UC-NRLF 


SB    2^2    EME 


OF  "THE 
UNIVEBSttY 
OF       . 
CAUFOB^ 


9  / 


PRICE    15    CENTS. 


TESTIMONIALS 


Y 


TO  THE  MERITS  OP 


1 


I 


THOMAS  PAINE, 


AUTHOR    OF    "COMMON    SENSE,"     "THE    CRISIS,"   "RIGHTS 

OF    MAN/'    "ENGLISH    SYSTEM    OF    FINANCE/' 

"AGE    OF   REASON,"    &C.,    AC, 


COMPILED   BY 

JOSEPH  K".  MOREATL 


The  World  is  my  Country, 

To  do  Good  my  Religion." — Paints  Motto. 


BURLINGTON,  N.  J.  : 

P.  L.  TAYLOR,  BOX  118,  P.  O. 

1861. 


5 


i 


®$g&^ ^ -*e5^ga& 


h^cr^rxsCJuJ     \y  CU 


TESTIMONIALS 


TO  THE  MERITS  OP 


THOMAS  PAINE, 


AUTHOR     OF     "COMMON    SENSE,"     "  THE     CRISIS/'     "RIGHTS 
OF    MAN/'    "ENGLISH    SYSTEM    OF    FINANCE," 


COMPILED    BY 

JOSEPH   N.  MOREAIF. 


"  The  "World  is  my  Country, 
To  do  Good  my  Religion." — Paine**  Motto. 


BURLINGTON,  N.  J.:  F.  L.  TAYLOR. 
1861. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  Year  One  Thousand  Eight 
Hundred  and  Sixty-one,  by  P.  L.  TAYLOR,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District 
Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


TO     THE 

REV.   M.  D.   CONWAY, 

OF  CINCINNATI,  OHIO, 

THE  FIEST  CLERGYMAN 

WHO  HAS  HAD  THE  MORAL  COURAGE  TO  CHAMPION  IN  THE  PULPIT 

THE    CAUSE    OF    ONE    WHOSE    FAIR    NAME,    THOUGH    NOW 

DEFAMED,  SHALL   ONE   DAY  DESERVEDLY   SHINE 

FORTH     AS     THE     BRIGHTEST     STAR     IN 

THE  AMERICAN   GALAXY, 

THIS  LITTLE  WORK  IS  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED. 

BY   HIS   FRIEND, 

THE  PUBLISHER. 


TO  THE  READER. 

The  following  little  work  will,  perhaps,  give  you 
a  more  high  conception  of  the  important  and  merito- 
rious services  of  the  "  Archimedes  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century"  to  mankind,  than  could  be  conceived  from 
the  perusal  of  any  "Life"  of  him  ever  issued  from 
the  Press ;  for,  instead  of  its  being  the  opinion  of 
one  individual,  and  that  opinion  perhaps  biased,  it 
is  a  collection  of  the  sentiments  of  some  seventy 
Historians,  Statesmen,  Poets,  and  Divines,  many  of 
whom  were  opposed  to  his  political,  and  almost  all 
to  his  theological  views.  If  it  in  the  slightest  degree 
adds  to  your  appreciation  of  Paine,  the  object  of  the 
compiler  will  be  accomplished. 

JOSEPH  F.  MOKEAU. 


M348033 


NOTE  BY  THE  PUBLISHER. 

Mr.  Moreau,  having  joined  the  Pennsylvania 
Volunteers,  left  the  work  more  incomplete  than  the 
publisher  desired.  In  fact,  it  was  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult, from  the  mass  of  testimony  of  like  character  to 
make  selections  of  that  which  might  be  the  most 
desirable  for  so  small  a  work.  Should  Mr.  Moreau 
return  from  the  campaign,  a  similar  pamphlet,  con- 
taining the  balance  of  testimonies,  will  doubtless  be 
published. 


TESTIMONIALS 


TO   THE    MERITS    OF 


THOMAS    IPAHSTE. 


GEN.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 

First  President  of  this  great  Republic,  in  a  letter  to 
Thomas  Paine,  inviting  that  author  and  patriot  to  par- 
take with  him,  at  Rocky-hill,  says  : — 

"  Your  presence  may  remind  Congress  of  your  past 
services  to  this  country,  and  if  it  is  in  my  power  to  im- 
press them,  command  my  best  exertions  with  freedom, 
as  they  will  be  rendered  cheerfully,  by  one  who  enter- 
tains a  lively  sense  of  the  importance  of  your  works." 

In  his  letter  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  this 
honored  hero  writes  : — 

"  That  his  Common  Sense  and  many  of  his  Crisis  were 
were  well  timed  and  had  a  happy  effect  upon  the  public 
mind,  none  I  believe  who  will  turn  to  the  epoch  at  which 
they  were  published,  will  deny.  That  his  services  have 
hitherto  passed  off  unnoticed  is  obvious  to  all." 

"Washington  to  Gen.  Joseph  Reed,  March  1776  : 

"  By  private  letters  which  I  have  lately  received  from 
Virginia,  I  find  that  "  Common  Sense"  is  working  a  pow. 
erful  change  there  in  the  minds  of  many  men." 

"  A  few  more  such  flaming  arguments  as  were  exhibit- 
ed at  Falmouth  and  Norfolk,  added  to  the  sound   doc- 


8 

trine  and  unanswerable  reasoning  contained  in  the 
pamphlet  "  Common  Sense/'  will  not  leave  numbers  at  a 
loss  to  decide  on  the  propriety  of  a  separation/' — Gen. 
Washington,  to  Joseph  Reed,  dated  Cambridge,  Jan.  31, 
1776. 


JOHN  ADAMS, 

The  Second  President  of  the  United  States,  who  spared 
no  occasion  to  underrate  Thomas  Paine's  services,  and  to 
assault  his  opinions  and  character,  the  transparent  mo- 
tive being  a  jealousy  to  be  considered  himself  the  great- 
est mover  of  the  ball  of  Independence,  thus  writes  to  his 
wife  on  the  19th  of  March,  1776  : — 

"  You  ask  me  what  is  thought  of  Common  Sense.  Sen- 
sible men  think  there  are  some  whims,  some  sophisms, 
some  artful  addresses  to  superstitious  notions,  some 
keen  attempt  upon  the  passions,  in  this  pamphlet.  But 
all  agree  there  is  a  great  deal  of  good  sense,  delivered  in 
clear,  simple,  concise  and  nervous  style.  His  sentiments 
of  the  abilities  of  America,  and  of  the  difficulty  of  a  re- 
conciliation with  Great  Britain,  are  generally  approved." 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 

The  third  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  writer 
of  the  glorious  "Declaration  of  Independence,"  thus 
speaks  of  the  "Author  Hero,"  who  first  suggested  it, 
in  a  letter  to  Francis  Eppes : 

"  You  ask  my  opinion  of  Lord  Bolingbroke  and  Thomas 
Paine.  They  were  alike  in  making  bitter  enemies  of 
the  priests  and  pharisees  of  their  day.      Both  were 


9 

honest  men;  both  advocates  for  human  liberty.  *  * 
*  These  two  persons  differed  remarkably  in  the  style 
of  their  writing,  each  leaving  a  model  of  what  is  most 
perfect  in  both  extremes  of  the  simple  and  the  sublime. 
]Sro  writer  has  exceeded  Paine  in  ease  and  familiarity  of 
style,  in  perspicuity  of  expression,  happiness  of  eluci- 
dation, and  in  simple  and  unassuming  language.  In 
this  he  may  be  compared  with  Dr.  Franklin." 

In  1801,  in  a  letter  to  Paine  tendering  him  a  passage 
to  the  tJnited  States  from  Prance,  in  a  national  vessel, 
Jefferson  writes : 

"I  am  in  hopes  you  will  finc[  us  returned  generally  to 
sentiments  worthy  of  former  times.  In  these  it  will  be 
your  glory  to  have  steadily  labored,  and  wkh  as  much 
effect  as  any  man  living.  That  you  may  long  live  to 
continue  your  useful  labors  and  to  reap  the  reward  of 
the  thankfulness  of  nations,  is  my  sincere  prayer." 


JAMES  MADISON, 

The  Fourth  President  of  the  United  States,  and  ex- 
pounder of  the  Constitution.  In  1784,  a  bill  was 
brought  before  the  Yirginia  Legislature,  proposing  to 
give  Mr.  Paine  a  tract  of  land  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
Chesapeake  Bay.  It  was  defeated  by  a  single  vote. 
Monroe  stated  that  it  would  have  been  carried  in  his 
favor,  had  he  not  written  "  Public  Good."  It  was  this 
that  called  forth  the  following  from  Madison  to  Wash- 
ington : 

u  Whether  a  greater  disposition  to  reward  patriotic 
and  distinguished  exertions  of  genius  will  be  found  on 
any  succeeding  occasion,  is  not  for  me  to  predetermine. 
Should  it  finally  appear  that  the  merits  of  the  man 
whose  writings  have  so  much  contributed  to  infuse  and 


10 

foster  the  spirit  of  Independence  in  the  people  of  Ame- 
rica are  unable  to  inspire  them  with  a  just  beneficence, 
the  world,  it  is  to  be  feared,  will  give  us  as  little  credit 
for  our  policy  as  for  our  gratitude  in  this  particular." 

"I  believe  in  one  God,  and  no  more;  and  I  hope  for  happiness 
beyond  this  life.  I  believe  in  the  equality  of  man ;  and  I  believe 
that  religious  duties  consist  in  doing  justice,  loving  mercy,  and  en- 
deavoring to  make  our  fellow  creatures  happy." — (Thomas  Paine. 
See  "Age  of  Reason.") 


JAMES  MONROE, 

The  fifth  President  of  the  United  States.  The  follow- 
ing extract  is  from  a  letter  written  by  this  gentleman 
to  Paine,  previous  to  the  release  from  the  Luxembourg 
of  "the  Apostle  of  Liberty": 

"It  is  necessary  for  me  to  tell  you  how  much  all  your 
countrymen — I  speak  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people — 
are  interested  in  your  welfare.  They  have  not  forgotten 
the  history  of  their  own  Eevolution,  and  the  difficult 
scenes  through  which  they  passed;  nor  do  they  review 
its  several  stages  without  reviving  in  their  bosoms  a  due 
sensibility  of  the  merits  of  those  who  served  them  in 
that  great  and  arduous  conflict.  The  crime  of  ingratitude 
has  not  yet  stained,  and  I  hope  never  will  stain  our  national 
character.  You  are  considered  by  them  as  not  only 
having  rendered  important  services  in  our  own  Revolu- 
tion, but  as  being,  on  a  more  extensive  scale,  the  friend 
of  human  rights,  and  a  distinguished  and  able  advocate 
in  favor  of  public  liberty.  To  the  welfare  of  Thomas 
Paine  the  Americans  are  not,  nor  can  they  be,  indif- 
ferent." 

'•It  is  unnatural  and  impolitic  to  admit  men  who  would  root  up 
our  independence  to  have  any  share  in  oar  legislation,  either  as 
electors  or  representatives,  because  the  support  of  our  independence 
rests,  in  a  great  measure,  on  the  vigor  and  purity  of  our  public 
bodies. — (The  Crisis,  No.  3.) 


11 

GEN.  ANDREW  JACKSON, 

The  "  Hero  of  New  Orleans/'  and  the  seventh  President 
of  the  United  States,  said  to  the  venerable  philan- 
thropist, Judge  Hertell,  of  New  York,  upon  the  latter 
proposing  the  erection  of  a  suitable  monument  to  Thos. 
Paine  : 

"Thomas  Paine  needs  no  monument  made  by  hands; 
he  has  erected  himself  a  monument  in  the  hearts  of  all 
lovers  of  liberty.  '  The  Bights  of  3£an,'  will  be  more 
enduring  than  all  the  piles  of  marble  or  granite  man 
can  erect." 


THE  REPUBLICANS  AND  REFORMERS 

Of  England,  in  1792,  looked  upon  Paine  as  the  true 
"  Apostle  of  Freedom."  They  circulated  a  song  to  his 
praise,  commencing 

"  God  save  great  Thomas  Paine ! 
His  Eights  of  Man  proclaim 
From  pole  to  pole !" 
{See  Preface,  Cheetham's  Life  of  Paine.) 

"  To  argue  with  a  man  who  has  renounced  the  use  and  authority 
of  reason,  and  whose  philosophy  consists  in  holding  humanity  in 
contempt,  is  like  administering  medicine  to  the  dead,  or  endeavor- 
ing to  convert  an  Atheist  with  Scripture." — [The  Crisis,  No.  5.) 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 

Who  first  introduced  Thomas  Paine  to  the  new  world, 
says,  in  a  letter  he  gave  the  English  Exciseman  recom- 
mending him  to  his  son-in-law,  Eichard  Bache  (1774) 

"  The  bearer,  Mr.  Thomas  Paine,  is  very  well  recom- 
mended to  me  as  an  ingenious,  worthy  young  man.  He 


12 

goes  to  Pennsylvania  with  a  view  of  settling  there.  I 
request  you  to  give  him  your  best  advice  and  counte- 
nance. " 

About  13  years  after,  Dr.  Franklin  gave  him  letters 
of  introduction  to  several  of  the  most  prominent  of  the 
French  "  men  of  letters."  The  following  is  an  extract 
from  one  to  the  Due  de  la  Rochefoucauld  : 

"  The  bearer  of  this  is  Mr.  Paine,  the  author  of  a 
famous  piece  entitled  Common  Sense,  published  here  with 
great  effect  on  the  minds  of  the  people  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Revolution.  He  is  an  ingenious,  honest  man ; 
and  as  such  I  beg  leave  to  recommend  him  to  your 
civilities." 


TIMOTHY  PITKINS, 

In  his  Political  and  Civil  History  of  the  United  States, 
says : — "  Common  Sense"  produced  a  wonderful  effect 
in  the  different  Colonies  in  favor  of  Independence. 


REV.  SOLOMON  SOUTHWICK, 

Printer,  politician  and  lecturer  against  Infidelity,  and, 
at  one  time,  the  editor  and  publisher  of  The  Christian 
Visiter, 'says: 

"No  page  in  history,  stained  as  it  is  with  treachery 
and  falsehood,  or  cold-blooded  indifference  to  right  or 
wrong,  exhibits  a  more  disgraceful  instance  of  public 
ingratitude  than  that  which  Thomas  Paine  experienced 
from  an  age  and  country  which  he  had  so  faithfully 
served.  As  the  Tintochus  of  the  Revolution,  and  it  is 
no  exaggeration  to  style  him  such,  we  owe  everlasting 
gratitude  to  his  name  and  memory.     Why,  then,  was 


13 

he  suffered  to  sink  into  the  most  wretched  poverty  and 
obscurity,  after  having,  in  both  hemispheres,  so  signally 
distinguished  himself  as  the  friend  of  liberty  and  man- 
kind ?  Was  his  religion,  or  want  of  religion,  the  real 
or  affected  cause  ?  Did  not  those  who  feared  his  talents, 
make  his  religion  a  pretext  not  only  to  treat  him 
with  cold  neglect,  but  to  strip  him,  if  possible,  of  every 
laurel  he  had  won  in  the  political  field,  as  the  brilliant, 
undaunted  and  successful  advocate  of  freedom  ?  As  to 
his  religion,  or  no  religion,  God  alone  must  be  the  judge 
and  arbiter  of  that.  No  human  being,  no  human  tri- 
bunal, can  claim  a  right  even  to  censure  him  for  it, 
much  less  to  make  it  the  pretext  for  defrauding  him, 
either  in  life  or  death,  of  the  reward  due  to  his  patriot- 
ism, or  the  legitimate  fame  of  his  exertions  in  the  cause 
of  suffering  humanity.  Had  Thomas  Paine  been  guilty 
of  any  crime,  we  should  be  the  last  to  eulogize  his  me- 
mory. But  we  cannot  find  he  ever  was  guilty  of  any 
other  crime  than  that  of  advancing  his  opinions  freely 
upon  all  subjects  connected  with  public  liberty  and  hap- 
piness. If  he  erred  in  any  of  his  opinions,  since  we 
know  that  his  intentions  were  pure,  we  are  bound  to 
cover  his  errors  with  the  mantle  of  charity.  We  can- 
not say  here  all  that  we  would  wish  to  say.  A  brief 
note  is  insufficient  to  do  justice  to  so  important  a  sub- 
ject. We  may,  however,  safely  affirm  that  Paine'* 
conduct  in  America  was  that  of  a  real  patriot.  In  the 
French  Convention  he  displayed  the  same  pure  and 
disinterested  spirit;  there  his  humanity  shone  forth  in 
his  exertions  to  save,  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life,  the 
unfortunate  Louis  XYI  from  the  scaffold.  His  life,  it 
is  true,  was  written  by  a  ministerial  hireling,  who 
strove  in  vain  to  blacken  his  moral  character.  The 
late  James  Cheetham,  likewise,  wrote  his  life;  and  we 
have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  we  knew  perfectly 
2 


14 

well  at  the  time  the  motives  of  that  author  for  writing 
and  publishing  a  work  which,  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe,  is  a  libel  almost  from  beginning  to  end.  In 
fact,  Cheetham  had  become  tired  of  this  country,  and 
had  formed  a  plan  to  return  to  England  and  become  a 
ministerial  editor,  in  opposition  to  Cobbett,  and  his 
"Life  of  Paine"  was  written  to  pave  his  way  back 
again.  We,  therefore,  presume  that  he  acted  upon  the 
principle  that  the  end  justified  the  means.  *  *  *  * 
Had  Thomas  Paine  been  a  Grecian  or  Eoman  patriot, 
in  olden  times,  and  performed  the  same  public  services 
as  he  did  for  this  country,  he  would  have  had  the  honor 
of  an  Apotheosis.  The  Pantheon  would  have  been 
opened  to  him,  and  we  should  at  this  day  regard  his 
memory  with  the  same  veneration  that  we  do  that  of 
Socrates  and  Cicero.  But  posterity  will  do  him  justice- 
Time,  that  destroys  envy  and  establishes  truth,  will 
clothe  his  character  in  the  habiliments  that  justly  be- 
long to  it.  *  *  *  *  We  cannot  resist  the  disposi- 
tion to  say,  that  in  suffering  the  home  of  the  author  of 
"Common  Sense,"  "The  Crisis,"  and  "The  Eights  of 
Man,"  to  lie  neglected,  in  the  first  place;  and  secondly, 
in  permitting  it  to  be  violated,  and  his  bones  shipped 
off  to  a  foreign  country,  contrary  to  all  the  laws  of  de- 
cency and  civilization,  we  have  added  nothing  to  the 
justice  or  dignity  of  our  national  character;  and  we 
shall  rejoice  if  impartial  history  tax  us  not  with  a  gross 
departure  from  both." 

"The  key  of  heaven  is  not  in  the  keeping  of  any  sect,  nor  ought 
the  road  to  it  to  be  obstructed  by  any.  Our  relation  to  each  other  in 
this  world  is  as  men,  and  the  man  who  is  a  friend  to  man  and  to 
his  rights,  let  his  religious  opinions  be  what  they  may,  is  a  good 
citizen,  to  whom  I  can  give,  as  I  ought  to  do,  and  as  every  other 
ought,  the  right  hand  of  fellowship." — (Pttine's  Letter  to  Samuel 
Adams,  Jan.  1,  1808.) 


15 
DR.  BENJAMIN  RUSH, 

A  member  from  Philadelphia  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, and  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  first  appearance  of 
"Common  Sense": 

"At  that  time  there  was  a  certain  Robert  Bell,  an  in- 
telligent Scotch  printer  and  bookseller  of  Philadelphia, 
whom  I  knew  to  be  as  high-toned  as  Mr.  Paine  upon  the 
subject  of  Independence.  I  mentioned  the  pamphlet  to 
him,  and  he  at  once  consented  to  run  the  risk  of  pub- 
lishing it.  The  author  and  the  printer  were  immedi- 
ately brought  together,  and  'Common  Sense ;  bursted 
from  the  press  of  the  latter,  in  a  few  days,  with  an  effect 
which. has  rarely  been  produced  by  types  and  paper  in 
any  age  or  country/' 

"Mr.  Paine's  manner  of  life  was  desultory.  He  often 
visited  in  the  families  of  Dr.  Franklin,  Mr.  Rittenhouse, 
and  Mr.  George  Clymer,  where  he  made  himself  accept- 
able by  a  turn  he  discovered  for  philosophical  as  well  as 
political  subjects." 


"He  (Paine)  contributed  much  in  aid  of  the  Revolution 
by  publishing  a  pamphlet  entitled  'Common  Sense.'" — 
(Duganne's  Comprehensive  Summary.) 


RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

A  distinguished  patriot  of  the  Revolution,  and  who,  as 
member  of  Congress  from  Virginia,  in  1776,  first  pro- 
posed to  that  body  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in 
returning  thanks  to  General  Washington  for  a  copy  of 
the  Rights  of  Man,  remarked : 

"It  is  a  performance  of  which  any  man  might  be 
proud;  and  I  most  sincerely  regret  that  our  country 


16 

could  not  have  offered  sufficient  inducements  to  have 
retained,  as  a  permanent  citizen,  a  man  so  thoroughly 
republican  in  sentiment,  and  fearless  in  the  expression 
of  his  opinion." 

In  a  letter  of  Lee  to  Washington,  dated  Chantilly, 
22d  July,  1784,  he  says : 

"  The  very  great  respect  that  I  shall  ever  pay  to  your 
recommendations,  would  have  been  very  sufficient  to 
have  procured  my  exertions  in  favor  of  Mr.  Paine,  inde- 
pendent of  his  great  public  merits  in  our  Revolution. 
I  have  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  extraordinary  effects 
produced  by  that  gentleman's  writings;  effects  of  such 
an  important  nature  as  would  render  it  very  unworthy 
of  these  States  to  let  him  suffer  anywhere;  but  it. would 
be  culpable  indeed  to  permit  it  under  their  own  eye,  and 
within  their  own  limits.  I  had  not  the  good  fortune  to 
be  present  when  Mr.  Paine's  business  was  considered  in 
tho  House  of  Delegates  (of  Virginia)  or,  most  certainly, 
I  should  have  exerted  myself  in  his  behalf.  I  have  been 
told  that  a  proposition  in  his  favor  has  miscarried,  from 
its  being  observed  that  he  had  shown  enmity  to  the 
State  by  having  written  a  pamphlet  (The  Public  Good) 
injurious  to  our  claim  of  Western  territory.  It  has 
ever  appeared  to  me  that  this  pamphlet  was  the  conse- 
quence of  Mr.  Paine's  being  himself  imposed  upon;  and 
that  it  was  rather  the  fault  of  the  place  than  of  the 
man.  This,  however,  was  but  a  trifle,  when  compared 
with  the  great  and  essential  services  that  his  other  wri- 
tings have  done  for  the  United  States." 

"It  is  the  duty  of  every  man,  as  far  as  his  ability  extends,  to 
detect  and  expose  delusion  and  error.  But  nature  has  not  given  to 
every  one  a  talent  for  the  purpose ;  and  among  those  to  whom  such 
talent  is  given,  there  is  often  a  want  of  disposition  or  of  courage 
f-e  do  it." — (Pa hie  s  Examination  of  Testament.) 


17 
NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE. 

The  following  is  related  by  Clio  Eickman,  the  Poet, 
who  was  with  Paine  in  France : 

"  When  Bonaparte  returned  (to  Paris)  from  Italy,  he 
called  on  Mr.  Paine  and  invited  him  to  dinner.  In  the 
course  of  his  rapturous  address  to  him,  he  declared  thai 
a  statue  of  gold  ought  to  be  erected  to  him  in  every  city 
of  the  universe,  assuring  him  that  he  always  slept  with 
his  book  "  Eights  of  Man"  under  his  pillow,  and  conjured 
him  to  honor  him  with  his  correspondence  and  advice." 

Eickman  then  remarks  on  the  above  : 

"This  anecdote  is  only  related  as  a  fact;  of  the  sincerity 
of  the  compliment  those  must  judge  who  know  Bona- 
parte's principles  best." 

It  might  be  here  added,  that  when  Napoleon  meditated 
his  invasion  of  England,  by  means  of  gunboats,  he  se- 
cured the  services  of  Paine  to  organize  a  government  if 
it  proved  successful. 


(t  Paine  was  in  Washington's  camp  in  December, 
1776,  and  the  first  number  of  the  '  Crisis'  was  published. 
It  was  read  to  every  Corporal's  guard,  and  its  strong 
and  truthful  language  had  a  powerful  effect  in  the  army 
and  among  the  people  at  large." — Betij.  F.  Lossing,  in 
his  Meld  Book  of  the  Revolution,  vol.  2,  p.  275,  Note. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  CHARLES  LEE, 

Fourteen    days   after    the    publication   of   "  Common 
Sense,"  thus  wrote  to  General  Washington  : 

"  Have  you  seen  the  pamphlet  '  Common  Sense  V  I 
never  saw  such  a  masterly,  irresistible  performance.  It 
will,  if  I  mistake  not,  in  concurrence  with  the  transcend- 
ent folly  and  wickedness  of  the  ministry,  give  the  coup 


18 

de  grace  to  Great  Britain.  In  short,  I  own  myself  con- 
vinced by  the  arguments  of  the  necessity  of  separation." 
General  Lee,  speaking  of  the  wonderful  effects  of 
Paine's  writings,  said,  that  "  He  burst  forth  on  the 
world  like  Jove  in  thunder  l"  John  Adams  says  that 
Lee  used  to  speak  of  Paine  as  "  the  man  with  genius  in 
his  eyes." 


WILLIAM  MASSET, 

In  his  History  of  England,  says:  "Thomas  Paine's 
pamphlet,  Common  Sense,  in  which  the  new  doctrines  of 
liberty  and  equality  were  broadly  taught,  was  published 
in  .America,  in  January,  1776,  and  had  an  immense 
circulation. " 


Extract  from  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  Charleston, 
S.  C,  dated  February  14,  1776: 

"  Who  is  the  author  of  Common  Sense  ?  I  can  hardly 
refrain  from  adoring  him.  He  deserves  a  statue  of 
gold." — Pennsylvania  Journal,  March  27,  1776. 




CHARLES  WILSON  PEALE, 

In  a  letter  to  Silas  Deane,  dated  Philadelphia,  July  28, 
1779,  says: 

"Believing  Mr.  Paine  to  be  a  firm  friend  to  America, 
and  by  personal  acquaintance  with  him,  gives  me  an 
opportunity  of  knowing  that  he  had  done  more  for  our 
common  cause  than  the  world,  who  had  only  seen  his 
publications,  could  know,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  sup- 
port him." 


19 
AARON  BURR, 

In  his  compendium  of  the  "Life  of  Paine,"  (New  York, 
1837)  Gilbert  Yale  says: 

"In  reply  to  a  query  which  we  recently  put  to  Col. 
Burr,  as  to  Mr.  Paine's  alleged  vulgarity,  intemperance 
and  want  of  cleanliness,  as  disseminated  by  those  who 
wished  it  true,  he  remarked  with  dignity,  *  Sir,  he  dined 
at  my  table.'  Then,  am  I  to  understand  he  was  a  gen- 
tleman? '  Certainly,  sir,'  replied  Col.  Burr,  <I  always 
considered  Mr.  Paine  a  gentleman,  a  pleasant  compa- 
nion, and  a  good-natured  and  intelligent  man,  decidedly 
temperate,  with  a  proper  regard  to  his  personal  appear- 
ance, whenever  I  saw  him.'" 


JUDGE  COOPER, 

Who  was,  according  to  Thomas  Jefferson,  "  One  of  the 
ablest  men  in  America,  and  that  in  several  branches  of 
science,"  thus  wrote  : 

"  I  was  at  Paris  at  this  time  (1792,)  but  previous  to 
my  going  there,  Mr.  Paine,  whom  I  had  met  at  Mr. 
Johnson's,  my  bookseller,  in  St  Paul's  Churchyard, 
gave  me  letters  of  introduction  to  M.  DcCondorcet,  and 
his  wife,  Madame  DeCondorcet,  who  read  and  spoke 
the  English  language  with  considerable  facility.  These 
letters  introduced  me  to  the  interesting  society  of  that 
very  talented  writer  and  his  family.  I  found  the  letters 
of  introduction  of  Mr.  Paine  honored  with  that  attention 
which  might  be  expected  towards  an  estimable  and  dis- 
tinguished man.  *  *  *  *  I  have  dined  with  Mr. 
Paine  in  literary  society,  at  Mr.  Tiffins',  a  merchant  in 
London,  at  least  a  dozen  times,  when  his  dress,  man- 
ners, and  conversation  were  such  as  became  the  charac- 


20 

ter  of  an  unobtrusive,  intelligent  gentleman,  accustomed 
to  good  society.  *  *  *  Paine's  opinions  on  theologi- 
cal topics  underwent  no  change  before  his  death. " 


HENRY  C.  WRIGHT 

Says  : — "  Thomas  Paine  had  a  clear  idea  of  God.  This 
Being  embodied  his  highest  conception  of  truth,  love, 
wisdom,  mercy,  liberty  and  power." 


REV.  M.  D.  CONWAY, 

In  a  Sermon  preached  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  the  29th 
of  January,  1860,  said : 

"All  efforts  to  stain  the  good  name  of  Thomas  Paine 
have  recoiled  on  those  who  made  them,  like  poisoned 
arrows  shot  against  a  strong  wind.  *  *  *  In  his 
life,  in  his  justice,  in  his  truth,  in  his  adherence  to  high 
principles,  in  his  disinterestedness,  I  look  in  vain  for  his 
parallel  in  those  times,  and  in  these  times.  I  am  select- 
ing my  words;  I  know  I  am  to  be  held  accountable  for 
them.  So  disinterested  was  he,  that  when  his  works 
were  printed  by  the  ten  thousand,  and  as  fast  as  one 
edition  was  out  another  was  demanded,  he,  a  poor  and 
pinched  author,  who  might  very  easily  have  grown  rich, 
would  not  accept  one  cent  for  them,  declared  that  he 
would  not  coin  his  principles,  and  made  to  the  States  a 
present  of  the  copyrights.  His  brain  was  his  fortune — 
nay,  his  living;  he  gave  it  all  to  American  Inde- 
pendence." 

"I  trouble  not  myself  about  the  maimer  of  future  existence.  1 
content  myself  with  believing,  even  to  positive  conviction,  that  the 
power  that  gave  me  existence  is  able  to  continue  it  in  any  form  and 


21 

manner  he  pleases,  either  with  or  without  this^ body  ;  and  it  appears 
more  probable  to  me  that  I  shall  continue  to  exist  hereafter,  than 
that  I  should  have  had  existence  as  I  now  have  before  that  exist- 
ence began." — (Paine1  s  Age  of  Reason,  page  57,  Philada.  ed.) 


THOMAS  CAMPBELL, 

The   Poet,   whose   lyrics   and   didactic   writings   have 
secured  him  a  niche  in  the  Temple  of  Fame,  says: 

"  Those  %vho  remember  the  impression  that  was  made 
by  Burke's  writings  on  the  then  living  generation,  will 
recollect  that  in  the  better  educated  classes  of  society 
there  was  a  general  proneness  to  go  with  Burke,  and  it 
is  my  sincere  opinion  that  that  proneness  would  have 
become  universal,  if  such  a  mind  as  Mackintosh's  had 
not  presented  itself,  like  a  break-water  to  the  general 
spring-tide  of  Burkeism.  I  maybe  reminded  there  was 
such  a  man  as  Thomas  Paine,  and  that  he  strongl}- 
answered  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion  all  the  arguments 
of  Burke.  I  do  not  deny  this  fact;  and  I  should  be 
sorr£  if  I  could  be  blind,  even  with  tears  for  Mackin- 
tosh in  my  eyes,  to  the  services  that  have  been  rendered 
to  the  cause  of  truth  by  the  shrewdness  and  courage  of 
Thomas  Paine.  But  without  disparagement  to  Paine, 
in  a  great  and  essential  view,  it  must  be  admitted  that, 
though  radically  sound  in  sense,  he  was  deficient  in  the 
strategetics  of  philosophy ;  whilst  Mackintosh  met 
Burke  perfectly  his  equal  in  the  tactics  of  moral  science 
and  in  beauty  of  style  and  illustration.  Hence  Mackin- 
tosh went  as  the  apostle  of  liberalism  among  a  class, 
perhaps  too  influential  in  society,  to  whom  the  manners 
of  Paine  was  repulsive. " 


22 
EDMUND  BURKE, 

The  celebrated  Statesman  and  Orator,  whose  "Reflec- 
tions on  the  French  Revolution"  called  forth  the  "  Rights 
of  Man,"  speaks  of'4  Common  Sense"  as  "  that  celebrated 
pamphlet  which  prepared  the  minds  of  the  people  for 
Independence." 


RAMSAY, 

"Who,  like  Gordon,  was  cotemporary  with  Paine,  says, 
in  his  "  History  of  the  Revolution,"  alluding  to  "  Com- 
mon Sense"  (see  vol.  1,  pp.  336-7,  London  1793.) 

"  In  union  Avith  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  the 
people,  it  produced  surprising  effects.  Many  thousands 
were  convinced,  and  were  led  to  approve  and  long  for  a 
separation  from  the  Mother  Country;  though  that 
measure,  a  few  months  before,  was  not  only  foreign  to 
their  wishes,  but  the  object  of  their  abhorrence,  the  cur- 
rent suddenly  became  so  strong  in  its  favor,  that  it  bore 
down  all  before  it." 

M  Let  each  of  us  hold  out  to  his  neighbor  the  hearty  hand  of 
friendship,  and  unite  in  drawing  a  line,  which,  like  an  act  of  ob- 
livion, shall  bury  in  forgetfulness  every  former  dissension?  Let 
the  names  of  Whig  and  Tory  be  extinct,  and  let  none  other  be 
heard  among  us  than  those  of  a  virtuous  supporter  of  the  Eights 
op  Mankind,  and  of  the  Free  and  Independent  States  op 
America." — {Conclusion  of  Common  Sense.) 


LORD  EDWARD  FITZGERALD, 

The  noble,  but  unfortunate,  Irish  patriot,  thus  wrote  to 
his  mother,  from  Paris,  in  1792,  of  the  abused  Thomas 
Paine,  showing  clearly  that  the  more  closely  the  habits 


23 


of  that  great  man  were  studied,  the  more  great  and  re- 
splendent did  they  shine  forth : 

"I  lodge  with  my  friend  Paine;  we  breakfast,  dine 
and  sup  together.  The  more  I  see  of  his  interior,  the 
more  I  like  and  respect  him.  I  cannot  express  how 
kind  he  has  been  to  me;  there  is  a  simplicity  of  man- 
ner, a  goodness  of  heart,  and  a  strength  of  mind  in  him 

that  I  NEVER  KNEW  A  MAN  BEFORE  POSSESS." 


.     WILLIAM  GRIMSHAW, 

In  his  "History  of  the  United  States/'  after  acknow- 
ledging the  merits  of  Dickinson,  Bland,  Franklin, 
Nicholas,  Lee,  Jefferson,  and  others,  who  supported  the 
cause  of  the  colonists  with  their  pens,  says : 

"But  the  most  powerful  writer  was  the  celebrated 
Thomas  Paine,  of  London,  who  resided  for  some  time  in 
America,  and,  in  a  work  entitled  Common  Sense,  roused 
the  public  feeling  to  a  degree  unequaled  by  any  previous 
appeal." 


MARCtTJIS  DE  CHASTELLEUX, 

Author  of  a  work  on  "  Public  Happiness"  and  a  cherished 
friend  of  General  Washington,  thus  speaks  of  Paine,  in 
his  "  Travels  in  America  :" 

"  I  know  not  how  it  happened  that  since  my  arrival 
in  America,  1  had  not  yet  seen  Mr.  Paine,  that  author 
so  celebrated  in  America  and  throughout  Europe,  by  his 
excellent  work  entitled,  '  Common  Sense,'  and  several 
other  political  pamphlets.  M.  I)e  Lafayette  and  my- 
self had  asked  the  permission  of  an  interview  for  the 
14th,  in  the  morning,  and  we  waited  on  him  accordingly 
with  Col.  Laurens.     I  discovered  at  his  apartments  all 


24 

the  attributes  of  a  man  of  letters,  a  room  pretty  much 
in  disorder,  dusty  furniture,  and  a  large  table  covered 
with  books,  lying  open,  and  manuscripts  begun.  *  * 
Having  formerly  held  a  post  in  Government,  he  has  now 
no  connection  with  it;  and  as  his  patriotism  and  his 
talents  are  unquestionable,  it  is  natural  to  conclude  that 
the  vivacity  of  his  imagination,  and  the  independence  of 
his  character,  render  him  more  calculated  for  reasoning 
on  affairs,  than  for  conducting  them." 


u  The  '  Rights  of  Man'  had  much  been  read  in  this 
country.  Even  the  '  Age  of  Reason'  had  obtained  an 
immense  circulation  from  the  great  reputation  of  the 
author." — (Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  4,  p.  9.) 


LORD  ERSKINE, 

f'The  greatest  forensic  advocate  since  the  days  of  Cicero/' 
speaking  of  the  American  Revolution,  said : 

♦'In  that  great  and  calamitous  conflict,  Edmund  Burke 
and  Thomas  Paine  fought  in  the  same  field  together,  but 
with  very  different  success.  Mr.  Burke  spoke  to  a 
Parliament  in  England,  such  as  Sir  George  Saville  de- 
scribes it,  having  no  ears  but  for  sounds  that  nattered 
its  corruptions.  Mr.  Paine,  on  the  other  hand,  spoke 
to  the  people,  reasoned  with  them,  told  them  they  were 
bound  by  no  subjection  to  any  sovereignty,  further  than 
their  own  benefit  connected  them ;  and  by  these  power- 
ful arguments  prepared  the  minds  of  the  American 
people  for  that  glorious,  just,  and  happy  Revolution." 


JUDGE  HERTELL, 

Of  New  York,  says: 

"No  man  in  modern  ages  has  done  more  to  benefit 
mankind,  or  distinguished  himself  more  for  the  immense 


25 

moral  good  he  has  effected  for  his  species  than  Thomas 
Paine;  who  in  truth  merits  eternal  life,  and,  doubtless 
will  be  immortalized  in  the  memory  and  gratitude  of 
future  generations  of  happy  beings,  who  will  continue  to 
hymn  his  praises  and  make  his  merits  known  to  remo- 
test posterity." 

"  It  was  the  cause  of  America  that  made  mo  an  author." — (Thos. 
Paine. ) 


SIR  FRANCIS  BURDETT 

Thus  alluded  to  Thomas  Paine,  in  a  speech  in  London, 
in  1797,  as  Chairman  of  a  meeting  of  the  "  Friends  of 
Parliamentary  Reform"  : 

"  Union  !  It  is  union  among  the  people  that  ministers 
dread.  They  are  aware  that  when  once  the  people 
unite  in  demanding  their  rights,  then  there  must  be  an 
end  to  illegitimate  power;  I  mean  all  power  not  derived 
from  the  people.  Ministers  know  that  a  united  people 
are  not  to  be  resisted  ;  and  it  is  this  that  we  must  un- 
derstand by  what  is  written  in  the  works  of  an  horxest 
man  too  long  calumniated,  I  mean  Thomas  Paine." 


MADAME  DE  STAEL, 

In   her   "  Considerations  on  the   French   Revolution," 
says  : 

"  Thomas  Paine  was  the  most  violent  of  the  American 
Democrats ;  and  yet,  there  was  neither  calculation 
nor  hypocrisy  in  his  political  exaggerations.  When  the 
sentence  of  Louis  XYI  came  under  discussion,  he  alone 
advised  what  would  have  done  honor  to  Franco  if  it  had 
3 


been  adopted,  the  offer  to  the  King  of  an  asylum  in 
America.  '  The  Americans  are  grateful  to  him/  said 
Paine,  '  for  having  promoted  their  Independence.' " 


MADAME  ROLAND, 

In  her  "Appeal,"  says:   (See  vol.  i,  part  2,  page  45,  ed. 
1798.) 

"Among  the  persons  I  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving, 
and  of  whom  I  have  already  described  the  most  remark- 
able, Paine  deserves  to  be  mentioned.  Declared  a 
French  citizen,  as  one  of  those  celebrated  foreigners 
whom  the  nation  ought  with  eagerness  to  adopt,  he  was 
known  by  writings  which  had  been  useful  in  the  Ame- 
rican Kevolution,  and  might  have  contributed  to  pro- 
duce one  in  England.  I  shall  not  take  upon  me  to  de- 
cide decisively  on  his  character,  because  he  understood 
French  without  speaking  it,  and  I  was  nearly  in  the 
same  situation  with  respect  to  English;  I  was,  there- 
fore, less  able  to  converse  with  him  myself  than  to  listen 
to  his  discourses  with  those  whose  political  talents  were 
greater  than  my  own.  The  boldness  of  his  conceptions, 
the  originality  of  his  style,  the  striking  truths  which  he 
boldly  throws  out  in  the  midst  of  those  whom  they 
offend,  must  necessarily  have  produced  great  effects; 
but  I  should  think  him  better  qualified  to  scatter,  if  I 
may  be  allowed  the  expression,  the  flames  of  conflagra- 
tion, than  to  discuss  primary  principles  or  prepare  the 
formation  of  Government." 

General  Washington's  Allowance  of  Grog  to  his  Gar- 
dener.— G.  W.  P.  Custis,  in  his  "  Recollections  of  "Washington," 
gives  a  copy  of  a  contract,  written  in  Washington's  own  hand,  be- 
tween George  Washington  and  Philip  Barton,  his  gardener. 
After  the  usual  clauses,  it  provides  that  the  said  Barton  "  will  not, 


27 

at  any  time,  suffer  himself  to  be  disguised  with  liquor,  except  on 
terms  hereafter  mentioned."  After  enumerating  the  clothing,  etc-, 
to  be  furnished,  it  further  says,  he  was  to  be  allowed  "four  dollars 
at  Christmas,  with  which  he  may  be  drunk  four  days  and  four 
nights.  Also,  two  dollars  at  "Whitsuntide  to  be  drunk  two  days ; 
also  a  dram  in  the  morning,  and  a  drink  of  grog  at  dinner  at 


REV.  GEORGE  CROLY, 

In  his  "Life  of  George  IV,"  thus  speaks  of  Thomas 
Paine : 

aAn  impartial  estimate  of  this  remarkable  person  has 
been  rarely  formed,  and  still  more  rarely  expressed.  He 
was,  assuredly,  one  of  the  original  men  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived.  It  has  been  said  that  he  owed  success 
to  vulgarity.  No  one  competent  to  judge,  could  read  a 
page  of  his  i Eights  of  Man/  without  seeing  that  this  is 
a  clumsy  misrepresentation.  There  is  a  peculiar  origi- 
nality in  his  style  of  thought  and  expression,  his  diction 
is  not  vulgar  or  illiterate,  but  nervous,'  simple,  and 
scientific.  Others  have  said  of  him,  with  more  truth, 
that  he  owed  his  popularity  to  the  hardihood  with  which 
he  proclaimed  and  vindicated  his  errors.  Paine,  like 
the  young  Spartan  warrior,  went  into  the  field  stripped 
bare  to  the  last  thread  of  prudent  conventional  disguise; 
and  thus  not  only  fixed  the  gaze  of  men  upon  his  intre- 
pid singularity,  but  exhibited  the  vigor  of  his  faculties 
in  full  play.  His  ambition  seems  to  have  been  that  of 
an  eccentric,  well-intentioned  desperado." 

"  I  consider  myself  in  the  hands  of  my  Creator,  and  that  he  will 
dispose  of  me  after  this  life  consistently  with  his  justice  and  good- 
ness. I  leave  all  these  matters  to  Him  as  my  Creator  and  friend, 
and  I  hold  it  to  be  presumption  in  man  to  make  an  article  of  faith 
as  to  what  the  Creator  will  do  with  us  hereafter." — [Thos.  Paine  s 
"  Thoughts  on  a  Future  State.'') 


•'Though  Nature  is  gay,  polite,  and  generous  abroad,  she  is  sul- 
len, rude  and  niggardly  at  home :  return  the  visit  and  she  admits 
you  with  all  the  suspicion  of  a  miser,  and  all  the  reluctance  of  an 
antiquated  beauty  retired  to  replenish  her  charms.  Bred  up  in 
antediluvian  notions,  she  has  not  yet  acquired  the  European  taste 
of  receiving  visitants  in  her  dressing-room ;  she  locks  and  bolts  up 
her  private  recesses  with  extraordinary  care,  as  if  not  only  re- 
solved to  preserve  her  hoards  but  to  conceal  her  age,  and  hide  the 
remains  of  a  face  that  was  young  and  lovely  in  the  days  of  Adam. 
He  that  would  view  Nature  in  her  undress,  and  partake  of  her  in- 
ternal treasures,  must  proceed  with  the  resolution  of  a  robber,  if 
not  a  ravisher.  She  gives  no  invitation  to  follow  her  to  the  cavern. 
The  external  earth  makes  no  proclamation  of  the  interior  stores, 
but  leaves  to  chance  and  industry  the  discovery  of  the  whole.  In 
such  gifts  as  nature  can  annually  re-create,  she  is  noble  and  pro- 
fuse, and  entertains  the  whole  world  with  the  interests  of  her  for- 
tunes, but  watches  over  the  capital  with  the  care  of  a  miser.  Her 
gold  and  jewels  lie  concealed  in  the  earth,  in  caves  of  utter  dark- 
ness ;  the  hoards  of  wealth,  heaps  upon  heaps,  mould  in  the  chests, 
like  the  riches  of  a  necromancer's  cell.  It  must  be  very  pleasant 
to  an  adventurous  speculist  to  make  excursions  into  these  Gothic 
regions;  and  in  his  travels  he  may  possibly  come  to  a  cabinet 
locked  up  in  some  rocky  vault,  whose  treasures  shall  reward  hi3 
toil,  and  enable  him  to  shine,  on  his  return,  as  splendidly  as  nature 
herself." — (  Written  by  Paine  for  the  "Pennsylvania  Magazine.") 


JOEL  BARLOW, 

The  poet,  patriot  and  statesman,  an  intimate  friend  of 
Paine,  says: 

"He  was  one  of  the  most  benevolent  and  disinterested 
of  mankind,  endowed  with  the  clearest  perception,  an 
uncommon  share  of  original  genius,  and  the  greatest 
depth  of  thought.     *     *     *     * 

"He  ought  to  be  ranked  among  the  brightest  and  un- 
deviating  luminaries  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

"As  a  visiting  acquaintance  and  a  literary  friend,  he 
was  one  of  the  most  instructive  men  I  ever  have  known. 


29 

He  had  a  surprising  memory  and  a  brilliant  fancy.  His 
mind  was  a  storehouse  of  facts  and  useful  observations. 
He  was  full  of  lively  anecdote,  and  ingenious,  original, 
pertinent  remark  upon  almost  every  subject.     *     *      * 

"He  was  always  charitable  to  the  poor  beyond  his 
means,  a  sure  protector  and  a  friend  to  all  Americans  in 
distress  that  he  found  in  foreign  countries;  and  he  had 
frequent  occasion  to  exert  his  influence  in  protecting 
them  during  the  Revolution  in  France.     *     *     * 

"His  writings  will  answer  for  his  patriotism."     *     * 

"In  a  great  affair,  where  the  good  of  man  is  at  stake,  I  love  to 
work  for  nothing;  and  so  fully  am  I  under  the  influence  of  this 
principle,  that  I  should  lose  the  spirit,  the  pleasure,  and  the  pride 
of  it,  were  I  conscious  that  1  looked  for  reward. — [Thomas  Paine.) 


R.  SHELTON  MACKENZIE,  D.  C.  L., 

An  author,  critic  and  literary  editor  of  great  ability,  in 
an  article  on  Muir,  the  Scotch  Reformer,  published  in 
the  Philadelphia  Press,  said: 

"Holding  the  belief  that  Paine's  theological  works 
had  much  better  never  have  been  written,  we  cannot 
ignore  the  fact  that  he  wTas  one  of  the  ablest  politicians 
of  his  time,  and  that  liberal  minds,  all  over  the  world, 
recognized  him  as  such.  The  publication  of  his  'Rights 
of  Man/  while  the  French  Revolution  was  proceeding, 
had  so  greatly  alarmed  Pitt,  and  the  other  members  of 
the  British  Government,  that  a  state  prosecution  was 
commenced  to  crush  himself  and  his  book." 


REV.  JEDEDIAH  MORSE, 

In  his  "Annals  of  the  American  Revolution,"  says: 

"A  pamphlet,  under  the  signature  of ' Common  Sense/ 
written   by  Thomas   Paine,  produced   a   great   effect. 


30 

While  it  demonstrates  the  necessity,  the  advantages, 
and  the  practicability  of  Independence,  it  treats  kingly 
government  with  opprobrium,  and  hereditary  succession 
with  ridicule.  The  change  of  the  public  mind  on  this 
occasion  is  without  a  parallel." 

"  Those  who  expect  to  reap  the  blessings  of  freedom,  must,  like 
men,  undergo  the  fatigues  of  supporting  it.  "We  fight  not  to  en- 
slave, but  to  set  a  country  free." — (The  Crisis,  iVo.  4.) 


WILLIAM  COBBETT, 

Author  of  a  "History  of  the  Keformation,"  and  several 
other  works,  and  at  one  time  a  violent  opponent  of  Thos. 
Paine,  says,  in  his  "Paper  against  Gold": 

"In  principles  of  finance,  Mr.  Paine  was  deeply 
skilled;  and  to  his  very  great  and  rare  talents  as  a 
writer,  he  added  an  uncommon  degree  of  experience  in 
the  concerns  of  paper  money.  *  *  *  Events  have 
proved  the  truths  of  his  principles  on  this  subject,  and 
to  point  out  the  fact  is  no  more  than  an  act  of  justice 
due  to  his  talents,  and  an  act  more  particularly  due  at 
my  hands,  I  having  been  one  of  his  most  violent  assailants." 

In  his  "Political  Begister,"  he  confessed  that, 

"  Old  ago  having  laid  his  hand  upon  this  truly  great 
man,  this  truly  philosophical  politician,  at  his  expiring 
flambeau  I  lighted  my  taper." 

He  also  says: 

"I  saw  Paine  first  pointing  the  way,  and  then  leading 
a  nation  through  perils  and  difficulties  of  all  sorts  to 
Independence,  and  to  lasting  liberty,  prosperity,  and 
greatness." 

"The  word  of  God  is  the  creation  we  behold:  and  it  is  in  this 
word,  which  no  human  invention  can  counterfeit  or  alter,  that  God 
(gpeakcth  universally  toman."— (Thos.  Paine' s  Age  of  Reason,  p.  25, 
Ph  Hade  Iphia  edition . ) 


31 
ABBE  SIEYES, 

The  distinguished  French  statesman,  in  1791,  upon  the 
appearance  of  Paine's  "Eights  of  Man"  in  France,  thus 
wrote : 

"Mr.  Thomas  Paine  is  one  of  those  men  who  most 
contributed  to  the  establishment  of  a  Republic  in 
America.  In  England,  his  ardent  love  of  humanity,  and 
his  hatred  of  every  form  of  tyranny,  prompted  him  to 
defend  the  French  Revolution  against  the  rhapsodical 
declamation  of  Mr.  Burke.  His  '  Rights  of  Man/  trans- 
lated into  our  language,  is  universally  known,  and 
where  is  the  patriotic  Frenchman  who  has  not  already, 
from  the  depths  of  his  soul,  thanked  him  for  having  for- 
tified our  cause  with  all  the  power  of  his  reason  and 
his  reputation.  It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  embrace 
this  occasion  to  offer  him  a  tribute  of  my  thankfulness 
and  profound  esteem,  for  the  truly  philanthropise  use 
he  makes  of  his  distinguished  talents." 


SAMUEL  ADAMS, 

One  of  the  most  bold  and  sturdy  patriots  of  the  revolu- 
tion, and  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
in  1802,  in  a  letter  to  Paine,  lamenting  the  publication 
of  the  "  Age  of  Reason,"  says  : 

"  I  have  frequently,  with  pleasure,  reflected  on  your 
services  to  my  native  and  your  adopted  country.  Your 
'Common  Sense/  and  your  *  Crisis'  unquestionably 
awakened  the  public  mind,  and  led  the  people  loudly  to 
call  for  a  Declaration  of  our  National  Independence." 


32 
ARTHUR  O'CONNER 

Wrote  the  following  lines,  had  them  printed,  and  dis- 
tributed them  himself,  on  his  way  to  imprisonment  at 
Fort  George,  in  1798 : 

I. 

"  The  pomp  of  courts  and  pride  of  kings, 
I  prize  beyond  all  earthly  things; 
I  love  my  country, — but  the  king, 
Above  all  men,  his  praise  I  sing; 
The  royal  banners  are  displayed 
And  may  success  the  standard  aid. 


II. 

"  I  fain  would  banish  far  from  hence 
The  Rights  of  Man  and  Common  Sense, 
Confusion  to  his  odious  reign, 
That  foe  to  princes — Thomas  Paine! 
Defeat  and  Ruin  seize  the  cause 
Of  France,  her  liberties  and  laws." 


(Read  the  first  line  of  the  second  verse  immediately 
after  the  first  line  of  the  first  verse — the  second  line  of 
the  second  verse,  after  the  second  line  of  the  first,  and 
thus  continue  throughout  to  connect  the  corresponding 
linos  of  each  verse — having  previously  read  them  in  the 
usual  manner.  The  two  modes  of  reading  will  be  found 
ingeniously  to  convey  distinct  and  opposite  meanings.) 


An  American  girl  once  observed  of  Mr  Paine,  that, 
"His  head  was  like  an  orange — it  had  a  separate  apart- 
ment for  everything  it  contained." 


33 
WILLIAM  HOWITT, 

In  «  Cassell's  Illustrated  History  of  England/'  says  : 

"  There  was  no  man  in  the  Colonies,  nevertheless,  who 
contributed  so  much  to  bring  the  open  Declaration  of 
Independence  to  a  crisis,  as  Thomas  Paine,  the  cele- 
brated author  of  l  The  Eights  of  Man/  and  the  '  Age 
ofKeason.'"  *** 

"  This  Pamphlet  (Common  Sense)  was  the  spark  which 
was  all  that  was  needed  to  fire  the  train  of  Independence. 
It  at  once  seized  on  the  imagination  of  the  public ;  cast 
all  other  writers  into  the  shade,  and  flew  in  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  all  over  the  Colonies.  *  *  *  During 
the  winter  and  spring,  this  lucid  and  admirably  reasoned 
pamphlet  was  read  and  discussed  everywhere,  and  by 
all  classes,  bringing  the  conviction  that  immediate  in- 
dependence was  necessary.  The  common  fire  blazed 
up  in  the  Congress,  and  the  thing  was  done.  *  *  *  *  He 
(Paine)  became  the  great  oracle  on  subjects  of  govern- 
ments and  constitutions,  and  contrived,  both  by  personal 
exertions  and  through  the  press,  to  urge  on  the  utter 
separation  of  the  Colonies  from  the  mother  country." 

"  Ship  Building  is  America's  greatest  pride,  in  which,  she  will, 
in  time,  excel  the  whole  world." — (Paine's  "  Common  Sense.'") 


MARY  HOWITT, 

In  her  "History  of  the  United  States/'  says: 

"Early  in  this  year  (1776)  Thomas  Paine,  a  recent 
emigrant  to  America,  and  editor  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Magazine,  published  a  pamphlet,  called  '  Common  Sense/ 
which  spoke  at  once  the  secret  sentiment  of  the  people. 
It  went  direct  to  the  point,  showing,  in  the  simplest  but 
strongest  language,  the  folly  of  keeping  up  the  British 


34 

connection,  and  the  absolute  necessity  which  existed  for 
separation.  The  cause  of  Independence  took,  as  it 
were,  a  definite  form  from  this  moment." 


HON.  SALMA  HALE, 

In  his  "History  of  the  United  States,"  says: 

"A  pamphlet,  entitled  'Common  Sense,'  written  by 
Mr.  Thomas  Paine,  an  Englishman,  was  universally 
read,  and  most  highly  admired.  In  language  plain, 
forcible,  and  singularly  well  fitted  to  operate  on  the 
public  mind,  he  portrayed  the  excellencies  of  Eepubli- 
can  institutions,  and  attacked,  with  happy  and  success- 
ful ridicule,  the  principles  of  hereditary  government. 
The  effect  of  the  pamphlet  in  making  converts  was 
astonishing,  and  is  probably  without  precedent  in  the 
annals  of  literature." 


CHARLES  JAMES  FOX, 

The  English  statesman,  said  of  Paine's  '  Eights  of  Man:' 
"It  seems  as  clear  and  as  simple  as  the  first  rule  of 
arithmetic." 


MARY  L.  BOOTH, 

In  her  excellent  "History  of  New  York,"  alluding  to 
the  opposition  to  Independence  manifested  by  the 
masses  in  the  early  part  of  the  struggle,  says : 

"At  this  juncture  'Common  Sense'  was  published  in 
Philadelphia,  by  Thomas  Paine,  and  electrified  the  whole 
nation  with  the  spirit  of  Independence  and  Liberty. 
This  eloquent  production  severed  the  last  link  that  bound 


35 

the  Colonies  to  the  mother  country;  it  boldly  gave 
speech  to  the  arguments  which  had  long  been  trembling 
on  the  lips  of  many,  but  which  none  before  had  found 
courage  to  utter;  and,  accepting  its  conclusions,  several 
of  the  Colonies  instructed  their  delegates,  in  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  to  close  their  eyes  against  the  ignis 
fatuus  of  loyalty,  and  fearlessly  to  throw  off  their  alle- 
giance to  the  Crown." 


REV.  WILLIAM  GORDON, 

In  his  "History  of  the  Bevolution,"  says:  (vol.  2,  p.  78, 
New  York,  1794.) 

"  The  publications  which  have  appeared  have  greatly 
promoted  the  spirit  of  Independency,  but  no  one  so 
much  as  the  pamphlet  under  the  signature  of  '  Common 
Sense/  written  by  Mr.  Thomas  Paine,  an  Englishman. 
Nothing  could  have  been  better  timed  than  this  per- 
formance.    It  has  produced  most  astonishing  effects." 


GEN.  WM.  A.  STOKES, 

A  distinguished  member  of  the  Bar  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  by  no  means  an  admirer  of  Paine,  is  obliged,  like 
Cheetham,  to  confess  that  the  author  of  "  Common 
Sense"  and  the  u  Crisis" 

"  Eagerly  embraced  the  cause  of  the  Colonies,  and 
was  soon  to  act  an  important  and  meritorious  part. 
When  '  Common  Sense'  was  published  a  great  blow  was 
struck — it  was  felt  from  New  England  to  the  Carolinas, 
it  resounded  throughout  the  world.  *  *  *  *  He  not  only 
reasoned,  he  flattered ;  he  availed  himself  of  prejudice, 
he  dealt  freely  in  invective.  For  this  I  do  not  censure 
him;  for  the   tribune   of    the   people,  whose   words 


36 

were  to  dismember  an  empire,  might  well  resort  to  all 
the  aids  of  art  in  accomplishing  his  stupendous  task.  * 
*  *  *  Paine's  brawny  arm  applied  the  torch  which  set 
the  country  in  a  flame,  to  be  extinguished  only  by  the 
relinquishment  of  British  supremacy,  and  for  this, 
irrespective  of  his  motives  and   character,  he  merits 

THE  GRATITUDE  OF  EVERY   AMERICAN." 


SAMUEL  BRYAN, 

Secretary  to  Council  of  Censors  on  Pennsylvania  Con- 
stitution, 1776,  said : 

"  This  book,  '  Common  Sense/  may  be  called  the  book 
of  Genesis,  for  it  was  the  beginning.  From  this  book 
sprang  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  that  not  only 
laid  the  foundation  of  liberty  in  our  own  country,  but 
the  good  of  mankind  throughout  the  world." 


CHARLES  PHILLIPS, 

The  eloquent  Irish  barrister,  wrrote  the  following  beau- 
tiful tribute  to  Paine.  It  may  be  found  in  his  "  Loves 
of  Celestine  and  St.  Hubert:" 

"Among  these,  there  was  one  whom  I  could  not  help 
viewing  with  peculiar  admiration,  because,  by  the  sole 
power  of  surprising  genius,  he  had  surmounted  the  dis- 
advantages of  birth  and  the  difficulties  of  fortune.  It 
was  the  celebrated  Thomas  Paine,  a  man  who,  no  mat- 
ter what  may  be  the  difference  of  opinion  as  to  his  prin- 
ciples, must  ever  remain  a  proud  example  of  mind,  un- 
patronized  and  unsupported,  eclipsing  the  factitious 
beams  of  rank,  and  wealth,  and  pedigree!  I  never  saw 
him  in  his  captivity,  or  heard  the  revilings  by  which  he 
has  since  been  assailed,  without  cursing  in  my  heart 


37 

that  ungenerous  feeling  which,  cold  to  the  necessities 
of  genius,  is  clamorous  in  the  publication  of  its  defects. 
*  *  *  *  i  Ye  great  ones  of  his  nation!  ye  pretended 
moralists,  so  forward  now  to  cast  your  interested  indig- 
nation upon  the  memory  of  Paine,  where  were  you  in 
the  day  of  his  adversity?  which  of  you,  to  assist  his  in- 
fant merit,  would  diminish  even  the  surplus  of  your 
debaucheries  ?  where  the  mitred  charity — the  practical 
religion?  Consistent  declaimers,  rail  on!  What,  though 
his  genius  was  the  gift  of  heaven,  his  heart  the  altar  of 
friendship!  What,  though  wit  and  eloquence,  and  an- 
ecdote flowed  freely  from  his  tongue,  while  conviction 
made  her  voice  his  messenger!  What,  though  thrones 
trembled,  and  prejudice  fled,  and  freedom  came  at  his 
command !  He  dared  to  question  the  creed  which  you, 
believing,  contradicted,  and  to  despise  the  rank  which 
you,  boasting  of,  debased.' " 


PAUL  ALLEN, 

In  his  "History  of  the  American  Kevolution,"  says: 

"Among  the  numerous  writers  on  this  momentous 
question,  the  most  luminous,  the  most  eloquent,  and  the 
most  forcible,  was  Thomas  Paine.  His  pamphlet,  enti- 
tled '  Common  Sense/  was  not  only  read,  but  understood, 
by  everybody.  It  contained  plain  and  simple  truths, 
told  in  a  style  and  language  that  came  home  to  the 
heart  of  every  man;  and  those  who  regard  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States  as  a  blessing,  will  never 
cease  to  cherish  the  remembrance  of  Thomas  Paine. 
Whatever  may  have  been  his  subsequent  career — in 
whatever  light  his  moral  or  religious  principles  may  be 
regarded,  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  to  him,  more 
than  to  any  single  individual,  was  owing  the  rapid  dif- 
fusion of  those  sentiments  and  feelings  which  produced 
the  act  of  separation  from  Groat  Britain." 
4 


ROBERT  BISSET,  LL.D., 

In  his  "Life  of  Edmund  Burke,"  says: 

"A  pamphlet,  entitled  ( Common  Sense/  published  by 
Thomas  Paine,  afterwards  so  famous  in  Europe,  contri- 
buted very  much  to  the  ratification  of  the  independ- 
ence of  America/'     *     *     * 

In  his  "History  of  the  Eeign  of  George  III,"  Bisset 


"  Thomas  Paine  was  represented  (in  England)  as  the 
minister  of  God,  diffusing  light  to  a  darkened  world." 


RICHARD  HILDRETH, 

In  his  "  History  of  the  United  States,"  says : 

u  No  little  excitement  was  produced  by  the  publica- 
tion, in  Philadelphia,  about  this  time,  (1776)  of  '  Com- 
mon Sense/  a  pamphlet  by  Thomas  Paine.  *  *  *  * 
It  argued  in  that  plain  and  convincing  style,  for  which 
Paine  was  so  distinguished,  the  folly  of  any  longer 
attempting  to  keep  up  the  British  connection,  and  the 
absolute  necessity  of  a  final  and  formal  separation. 
Pitched  exactly  to  the  popular  tone,  it  had  a  wide  cir- 
culation throughout  the  Colonies,  and  gave  a  powerful 
impulse  to  the  cause  of  independence." 


THOMAS  CLIO  RICKMAN, 

Author  of   a  number  of  poems,   tales  and    political 
pamphlets,  says : 

"  Why  seek  occasions,  surly  critics  and  detractors,  to 
maltreat  and  misrepresent  Mr.  Paine  ?  He  was  mild, 
unoffending,  sincere,  gentle,  humble,  and  unassuming ; 


his  talents  were  soaring,  acute,  profound,  extensive  and 
original;  and  he  possessed  that  charity  which  covers 
a  multitude  of  sins/' 

"  I  ever  feel  myself  hurt  when  I  hear  the  Union,  that  great 
palladium  of  our  liberty  and  safety,  the  least  irreverently  spoken 
of.  Our  citizenship  in  the  United  States  is  our  national  character, 
our  citizenship  in  any  particular  Suite  is  only  our  local  distinction. 
Our  great  title  is  Americans,  our  inferior  one  varies  with  the  place." 
— {Thomas  Paine,  the  Crisis,  No.  XV.) 


W.  H.  BARTLETT, 

In  his  "History  of  the  United  States  of  America/ 
says: 

"It  was  at  this  critical  period,  while  this  feeling, 
though  inoperative,  yet  lingered  in  the  minds  of  the 
people,  and  when,  although  the  thing  itself  had  become 
familiarized  to  most  minds  as  equally  necessary  and  de- 
sirable, every  one  held  back  from  boldly  pronouncing  the 
word  Independence,  that  there  appeared  a  pamphlet 
called  '  Common  Sense/  written  by  Thomas  Paine,  the 
celebrated  author  of  the  'Eights  of  Man/  who  had  re- 
cently emigrated  from  England,  and  ardently  embraced 
the  American  cause.  Perceiving  the  hesitation  in  the 
public  mind,  he  set  himself  to  the  work  of  dissipating  it 
by  a  clear  and  convincing  statement  of  the  actual  position 
of  affairs.  He  plainly  exposed  the  impossibility  of  a  last- 
ing reconciliation  with  England,  and  showed  that  inde- 
pendence had  not  only  become  the  only  safe  or  honor- 
able course,  but  that  it  was  as  practicable  as  it  was 
desirable.  *  *  *  *  This  pamphlet,  written  in  a 
popular  and  convincing  style,  and  expressly  adapted  to 
the  state  of  public  feeling,  produced  an  indescribable 
sensation.      The    ice   was    now    broken;    those  who, 


40 

although  convinced,  had  hitherto  held  back,  came  boldly 
forward,  while  many  who  had  halted  between  two  opi- 
nions now  yielded  to  the  force  of  necessity  and  em- 
braced the  popular  side." 

"It  is  only  by  acting  in  union  that  the  usurpations  of  foreign 
nations  on  the  freedom  of  trade  can  be  counteracted,  and  security 
extended  to  the  commerce  of  America.  And  when  we  view  a  flag, 
which,  to  the  eye,  is  beautiful,  and  to  contemplate  its  rise  and 
origin,  inspires  a  sensation  of  sublime  delight,  our  national  honor 
must  unite  with  our  interest  to  prevent  injury  to  the  one,  or  insult 
to  the  other."— (Thomas  Paine,  "  The  Crisis,"  No.  XVI.) 


DR.  JOHN  W.  FRANCIS, 

Of  New  York,  said : 

"  No  work  had  the  demand  for  readers  comparable  to 
that  of  Paine.  i  The  Age  of  Reason'  on  its  first  appear- 
ance in  New  York  was  printed  as  an  orthodox  book,  by 
orthodox  publishers,  doubtless  deceived  by  the  vast  re- 
nown which  the  author  of  '  Common  Sense'  had  ob- 
tained." 


"  Hiu  (Paine's)  career  was  wonderful,  even  for  the 
age  of  miraculous  events  he  lived  in.  In  America  he 
was  a  revolutionary  hero  of  the  first  rank,  who  carried 
letters  in  his  pocket  from  George  Washington  thanking 
him  for  his  services  ;  and  he  managed  besides  to  write 
his  name  in  large  letters  in  the  history  of  England  and 
France." — (Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  iv,  p.  16.) 

"  The  Democratic  movement  of  the  last  eighty  years, 
be  it  a  f finality'  or  only  a  phase  of  progress  towards  a 
more  perfect  state,  is  the  grand  historical  fact  of  modern 
times,  and  Paine's  name  is  intimately  connected  with 

it."-iibid,P.n.) 


41 
BENJ.  F.  LOSSING 

Says  :  "  It  (Common  Sense)  was  the  earliest  and  most 
powerful  appeal  in  behalf  of  independence,  and  probably 
did  more  to  fix  that  idea  firmly  in  the  public  mind  than 
any  other  instrumentality." — (Field  Book  of  Revolution, 
vol  ii,  p.  274.) 

"  The  flame  of  desire  for  absolute  independence  glow- 
ed in  every  patriot  bosom  at  the  beginning  of  1776, 
and  the  vigorous  paragraphs  of '  Common  Sense/  and  kin- 
dred publications,  laboring  with  the  voice  of  impas- 
sioned oratory  at  every  public  gathering  of  the  people, 
uncapped  the  volcano." — (Ibid,  p.  277.) 

"  It  is  only  in  the  creation  that  all  our  ideas  and  conceptions  of  a 
word  of  God  can  unite.  The  creation  speaketh  a  universal  lan- 
guage, independently  of  human  speech,  or  human  language,  multi- 
plied and  various  as  they  he.  It  is  an  ever  existing  original  which 
every  man  can  read.  It  cannot  be  forged ;  it  cannot  be  counter- 
feited ;  it  cannot  he  lost ;  it  cannot  be  altered ;  it  cannot  be  sup- 
pressed. It  does  not  depend  upon  the  will  of  man  whether  it  shall 
be  published  or  not ;  it  publishes  itself  from  one  end  of  the  earth 
to  the  other.  It  preaches  to  all  nations  and  to  all  worlds,  and  this 
word  of  God  reveals  to  man  all  that  is  necessary  for  man  to  know 
of  God.  Do  we  want  to  contemplate  his  power  ?  "We  see  it  in  the 
immensity  of  the  creation.  Do  we  want  to  contemplate  his  wis- 
dom ?  "We  see  it  in  the  unchangeable  order  by  which  the  incom- 
prehensible whole  is  governed.  Do  we  want  to  contemplate  his 
munificence  ?  We  see  it  in  the  abundance  with  which  he  fills  the 
earth.  Do  we  want  to  contemplate  his  mercy  ?  We  see  it  in  his 
not  withholding  that  abundance  even  from  the  unthankful." — 
[Paine 's  "Age  of  Reason,"  page  26.) 


DR.  LADD, 

A  prominent  poet  of  the  Revolution,  and,  of  course,  like 
Ramsay,  Allen,  Botta,  Gordon,  and  others,  cited  in  this 
4* 


42 

little  work,  a  co temporary  of  Thomas  Paine,  pays  the 
following  eloquent  and  glowing  tribute  to  that  remark- 
able man  : 

"  Long  live  the  man,  in  early  contest  found, 
Who  spoke  his  heart  when  dastards  trembled  round; 
Who,  fired  with  more  than  Greek  or  Eoman  rage, 
Flashed  truth  on  tyrants  from  his  manly  page — 
Immortal  Paine !  whose  pen  surprised  we  saw, 
Could  fashion  Empires  while  it  kindled  awe. 
When  first  with  awful  front  to  crush  her  foes, 
All  bright  in  glittering  arms,  Columbia  rose, 
Prom  thee  our  sons  the  generous  mandate  took, 
As  if  from  Heaven  some  oracle  had  spoke  ; 
And  when  thy  pen  revealed  the  grand  design, 
'Twas  done — Columbia's  liberty  was  thine." 

"It  is  certain  that,  in  one  point,  all  nations  of  the  earth  and  all 
religions  agree  ;  all  believe  in  a  God  ;  the  things  in  which  they  dis- 
agree are  the  redundancies  annexed  to  that  belief;  and,  therefore, 
if  ever  an  universal  religion  should  prevail,  it  will  not  be  believing 
anything  new,  but  getting  rid  of  redundancies,  and  believing  as 
man  first  believed.  Adam,  if  ever  there  was  such  a  man,  was 
created  a  Deist ;  but  in  the  meantime  let  every  man  follow,  as  he 
has  a  right  to  do,  the  religion  and  worship  he  prefers." — [Age  of 
Reason,  p.  58.) 


JAMES  CHEETHAM, 

The  notorious  apostate,  speaking  of  whose  "Life  of 
Paine,"  a  Christian  cotemporary*  of  his  remarked,  "we 
have  every  reason  to  believe  it  is  a  libel  almost  from 
beginning  to  end,"  is  compelled  to  admit,  speaking  of 
Paine'a  l  Common  Sense/  that:  (See  "Life  of  Paine,"  pp. 
45-6.) 


*  Soloir.nn  Southwick. 


43 

*  This  pamphlet,  of  40  octavo  pages,  holding  out  re- 
lief by  proposing  Independence  to  an  oppressed  and 
despairing  people,  was  published  in  January,  1776. 
Speaking  a  language  which  the  Colonists  had  felt  but 
not  thought,  its  popularity,  terrible  in  its  consequences 
to  the  parent  country,  was  unexampled  in  the  history 
of  the  press.  At  first,  involving  the  Colonists,  it  was 
thought,  in  the  crime  of  rebellion,  and  pointing  to  a 
road  leading  inevitably  to  ruin,  it  was  read  with  indig- 
nation and  alarm,  but  when  the  reader,  (and  everybody 
read  it)  recovering  from  the  first  shock,  reperused  it,  its 
arguments,  nourishing  his  feelings  and  appealing  to  his 
pride,  re-animated  his  hopes  and  satisfied  his  under- 
standing, that  'Common  Sense/  backed  by  the  resources 
and  forces  of  the  Colonies,  poor  and  feeble  as  they  were, 
could  alone  rescue  them  from  the  unqualified  oppression 
with  which  they  were  threatened."  "His  pen  was  an 
appendage  to  the  army  of  Independence  as  necessary 
and  as  formidable  as  its  cannon.  Having  no  property 
he  fared  as  the  army  fared.  *  *  *  When  the  Colo- 
nists drooped,  he  revived  them  with  a  <  Crisis/  The 
object  of  it  was  good,  the  method  excellent,  and  the 
language  suited  to  the  depressed  spirits  of  the  army." 
— (Life  of  Paine,  page  55.) 


JAMES  THOMPSON  CALLENDER, 

In  his  " Sketches  of  the  History  of  America,"  says: 
(1798.) 

"On  titles  Thomas  Paine  has  written  with  great  suc- 
cess; and  this  is  one  reason  why  the  friends  of  order 
hate  him.  Abuse  of  this  author  is  now  as  naturally 
expected  in  a  federal  newspaper  as  tea  and  chocolate  in 
a  grocer's  store.     To  such  things  compare  two  resolu- 


44 

tions  of  Congress  of  the  26th  August,  and  3d  October, 
1785.  In  consequence  of  his  'early,  unsolicited,  and 
continued  labors  in  explaining  and  enforcing  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  late  Revolution,  by  ingenious  and  timely 
publications,  upon  the  nature  of  liberty  and  civil  govern- 
ment/ they  direct  the  board  of  treasury  to  pay  him 
three  thousand  dollars.  This  attestation  outweighs  the 
clamor  of  the  six  per  cent,  orators.  They  dread,  they 
revile,  and,  if  able,  they  would  persecute  Thomas 
Paine,  because  he  possesses  talents  and  courage  suffi- 
cient to  rend  assunder  the  mantle  of  speculation,  and  to 
delineate  the  rickety  growth  of  our  public  debt." 

*  #  *  *  "Wishing  ye  may  always  fully  and  uninterruptedly 
enjoy  every  civil  and  religious  right;  and  be  in  your  turn  the 
means  of  securing  it  to  others,  but  that  the  example  which  ye  have 
unwisely  set,  of  mingling  religion  with  politics,  may  be  disavowed 
and  reprobated  by  every  inhabitant  of  America  " — [Paine' 's  '  'Address 
to  Quakers.") 


CHARLES  BOTTA, 

An  Italian  patriot,  historian,  and  physician,  who  fought 
for  American  Independence,  and  who  must  have  been 
a  good  judge  of  the  influence  and  merits  of  Paine's 
writings,  says : 

"  At  this  epoch  appeared  a  writing  entitled  l  Common 
Sense ;  it  was  the  production  of  Thomas  Paine,  born  in 
England,  and  arrived  not  long  before  in  America.  No 
writer,  perhaps,  ever  possessed,  in  a  higher  degree,  the 
art  of  moving  and  guiding  the  multitude  at  his  will.  It 
may  be  affirmed,  in  effect,  that  this  work  was  one  of  the 
most  powerful  instruments  of  American  Independence. 
The  author  endeavored,  with  very  plausible  arguments, 
to  demonstrate  that  the  opposition  of  parties,  the  diver- 


45 

sity  of  interests,  the  arrogance  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment, and  its  ardent  thirst  of  vengeance,  rendered  all 
reconciliation  impossible.  On  the  other  hand,  he  en- 
larged upon  the  necessity,  utility,  and  possibility  of  In- 
dependence. *  *  *  The  success  of  this  writing  of 
Paine  cannot  be  described." 

"O!  ye  that  love  mankind !  ye  that  dare  oppose,  not  only  the 
tyranny,  hut  the  tyrant,  stand  forth  !  Every  spot  in  the  old  world 
is  overrun  with  oppression.  Freedom  hath  been  hunted  round  the 
Globe,  Asia  and  Africa  have  long  expelled  her.  Europe  regards 
her  like  a  stranger,  and  England  hath  given  her  warning  to  depart. 
O !  receive  the  fugitive,  and  prepare  in  time  an  asylum  for  man- 
kind."— (Fame's  "  Common  Sense") 


THOMAS  GASPEY, 

In  his  "History  of  England,"  says: 

"At  this  period  the  celebrated  Thomas  Paine  had 
entered  upon  his  career  as  a  public  writer.  In  January, 
1776,  his  pamphlet,  entitled  l  Common  Sense/  appeared. 
That  able  production  has  been  said  to  have  been  the 
joint  composition  of  Paine,  Dr.  Franklin,  Mr.  Samuel 
and  John  Adams.  Paine,  however,  denies  that  they  in 
any  way  directly  assisted  him ;  to  the  two  latter  gentle- 
men he  was  not  known  at  the  time.  He  had  been  in- 
troduced to  Franklin  in  England.  ***** 
Paine  was  originally  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
and  brought  up  as  a  stay  maker  at  Thetford.  Subse- 
quently he  obtained  a  situation  in  the  excise,  but  left  it 
to  become  an  assistant  in  a  school;  he  became  an  ex- 
ciseman again,  and  a  pamphlet  which  he  wrote  caused 
him  to  be  noticed  by  Franklin,  who  advised  him  to  visit 
America.  'Common  Sense'  opened  with  reflections  on 
the  origin  and  design  of  government,  and  it  then  pro- 


ceeded  with  a  vigorous  hand  to  expose  the  abuses  which 
had  crept  into  the  English  system.  *  *  *  *  The 
clear  and  powerful  style  of  Paine  made  a  prodigious 
impression  on  the  American  people.  ***** 
He  was  treated  with  great  consideration  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Revolutionary  Government,  who  took  no  step 
of  importance  ivithout  consulting  him." 

"  The  world  may  know,  that  as  far  as  we  approve  of 
monarchy,  in  America  the  law  is  king." — (Common  Sense, 
p.  46.) 


STEPHEN  SIMPSON, 

Author  of  a  "Life  of  Stephen  Girard,"  &c,  says,  in  his 
"Lives  of  Washington  and  Jefferson  with  a  Parallel:" 

"To  these  followed  pamphlets  and  essays;  among 
which  stood  in  bold  and  prominent  relief,  distinguished 
for  its  eloquence,  patriotism,  and  energy,  the  'Common 
Sense'  of  Thomas  Paine ;  which,  combining  great  force 
of  language,  and  power  of  argument  with  an  irresistible 
array  of  facts  and  principles,  too  obvious  to  be  denied 
and  too  reasonable  to  be  confuted,  carried  conviction  to 
every  mind  at  the  same  time  that  they  enlisted  the 
most  ardent  feelings  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  inde- 
pendence ;  agitating  the  calm  and  temperate  with  a 
glowing  love  of  country,  and  infusing  irresistible  enthu- 
siasm into  the  bosoms  of  the  ardent  champions  of  the 
'Rights  of  Man.'  *  *  *  LueidJuJiis  style,  forcible 
in  his  diction,  and  happy  in  his  illustrations,  he  threw 
the  charms  of  poetry  over  the  statue  of  reason,  and 
made  converts  to  liberty  as  if  a  power  of  fascination  pre- 
sided over  his  pen.  *  *  *  The  writings  of  Thomas 
Paine  have  been  admitted  to  have  had  more  influence 


47 


in  the  accomplishment  of  the  separation  of  the  Colonies 
from  the  Mother  Country  than  any  other  cause.  *  * 
To  the  genius  of  Thomas  Paine,  as  a  popular  writer,  and 
to  that  of  George  Washington,  as  a  prudent,  skillful,  and 
consummate  general,  are  the  American  people  indebted 
for  their  rights,  liberties  and  independence.  The  high 
opinion  of  Paine,  entertained  by  Washington,  and  pub- 
licly expressed  by  the  latter,  sheds  fresh  lustre  on  the 
incomparable  merits  of  the  great  leader  of  the  Army  of 
the  Revolution." 


BAINES,  THE  HISTORIAN, 

In  his  "Wars  of  the  Kevolution,"  says,  speaking  of  the 
influence  of  Paine's  political  writings  in  England: 

"  As  the  current  of  popular  opinion  did  not  flow  in  the 
same  direction  as  the  favor  of  the  Court,  a  pamphlet, 
entitled  the  (  Rights  of  Man,'  in  which  sentiments  of  an 
opposite  kind  were  maintained  with  peculiar  asperity 
and  animadversion,  was  read  and  circulated  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  alarm  the  administration.  Editions  were 
multiplied  in  every  form  and  size;  it  was  alike  seen  in 
the  hands  of  the  noble  and  of  the  plebeian,  and  became, 
at  length,  translated  into  the  various  languages  of  Eu- 
rope. Tho  cabinet  council  soon  after  issued  a  proclama- 
tion against  'wicked  and  seditious  libels/  prosecutions 
were  commenced  with  a  zeal  unknown  under  the  go- 
vernment of  the  reigning  family;  and  it  was  reserved 
for  the  singular  fortune  of  an  unlettered  man,  after 
contributing  by  one  publication  to  the  establishment  of 
a  transatlantic  republic  in  North  America,  to  introduce, 
with  astonishing  effect,  the  doctrines  of  democratic  go- 
vernment into  the  first  states  of  Europe." 


48 
HENRY  G.  WATSON, 

In  his  "History  of  the  United  States/7  says: 

"A  pamphlet,  entitled  'Common  Sense/  written  by 
Thomas  Paine,  arguing,  in  plain  language,  the  advan- 
tage and  necessity  of  Independence,  effected  a  complete 
revolution  in  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  people/' 

"The  Almighty  Lecturer,  by  displaying  the  principles  of  science 
in  the  structure  of  the  universe,  has  invited  man  to  study  and  to 
imitation.  It  is  as  if  He  had  said  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  globe, 
that  we  call  ours,  'I  have  made  an  earth  for  man  to  dwell  upon, 
and  I  have  rendered  the  starry  heavens  visible  to  teach  him  science 
and  the  arts.     He  can  now  provide  for  his  own  comfort,  and 

LEARN    FROM    MY    MUNIFICENCE    TO    ALL    TO    BE    KIND    TO    EACH 

other.'  " — [Paints  "Age  of  Reason,1' p.  33.) 


FRANCIS  OLDYS,  (George  Chalmers,) 

In  his  "  Life  of  Paine,"  says  : 

"  Notwithstanding  the  reviews  of  criticism,  our  author 
received  the  applause  of  party.  Nay,  Philology  came, 
in  the  person  of  Home  Tooke,  who  found  out  his  retreat 
after  some  enquiry,  to  mingle  her  cordial  congratula- 
tions with  the  thanks  of  greater  powers.  '  You  are/ 
said  he,  '  like  Jove,  coming  down  upon  us  in  a  shower  of 
gold.'" 

"  If  there  is  a  sin  superior  to  every  other,  it  is  that  of  wilful  and 
offensive  war.  Most  othej  sins  are  circumscribed  within  various 
limits,  that  is,  the  power  of  one  man  cannot  give  them  a  very 
general  extension,  but  he  who  is  the  author  of  war,  lets  loose  the 
whole  contagion  of  hell,  and  opens  a  vein  that  bleeds  a  nation  to 
death."— («  The  Crisis,"  No.  5.) 


49 
CAPEL  LOFFT, 

An  English  barrister,  poet  and  miscellaneous  writer, 
made  use  of  the  following  language,  in  a  letter  to  T.  C. 
Eickman,  in  1795,  after  strongly  criticising  the  "Age  of 
Reason:" 

"I  am  glad  Paine  is  living:  he  cannot  be  even  wrong 
without  enlightening  mankind;  such  is  the  vigor  of  his 
intellect,  such  the  acuteness  of  his  research,  and  such 
the  force  and  vivid  perspicuity  of  his  expression/' 


ALEXANDER  ANDREWS, 

In  his  "History  of  British  Journalism,"  says: 

"Soon  after  this  Thomas  Paine's  pamphlet,  published 
at  irregular  periods,  but  all  numbered  and  paged  like 
newspapers,  and  named  the '  American  Crisis/  appeared, 
and  first  pronounced  the  words  which  had  been  falter- 
ing upon  so  many  blanched  lips,  and  trembling  tongues 
of  men  who  shuddered  as  they  saw  the  only  alternative 
more  plainly — Independence  and  Separation." 

*  #  *  *  «jn  my  religious  publications  my  endeavors  have 
been  directed  to  bring  man  to  a  right  use  of  the  reason  that  God 
has  given  him ;  to  impress  on  him  the  great  principles  of  divine 
morality,  justice,  mercy,  and  a  benevolent  disposition  to  all  men, 
and  to  all  creatures,  and  to  inspire  in  him  a  spirit  of  trust,  confi- 
dence, and  consolation  in  his  Creator,  unshackled  by  the  fables  of 
books  pretending  to  be  the  word  of  God." — (Thomas  Paine.) 


MR.  BOND, 

An  English  Surgeon,  who  was  confined  in  the  Luxem- 
bourg prison  in  Paris  at  the  same  time  Paine  was,  and 
5 


50 

who  disagreed  with  him  in  both  political  and  theologi- 
cal matters,  asserts  that : 

"  Mr  Paine,  while  hourly  expecting  to  die,  read  to  me 
parts  of  his  'Age  of  Eeason/  and  every  night  when  I 
left  him  to  be  separately  locked  up,  and  expected  not  to 
see  him  alive  in  the  morning,  he  always  expressed  his  firm 
belief  in  the  principles  of  that  book,  and  begged  I  would 
tell  the  world  such  were  his  dying  opinions.  He  often 
said  that  if  he  lived  he  should  prosecute  further  that 
work  and  print  it." 

Mr.  Bond  has  frequently  observed,  says  Eickman,  the 
poet,  that  Paine  was — 

"  The  most  conscientious  man  he  ever  knew." 

"My  path  is  a  right  line,  as  straight  and  clear  to  me  as  a  ray  of 
light.  The  boldness  (if  they  will  have  it  so)  with  which  I  speak 
on  any  subject,  is  a  compliment  to  the  person  I  address;  it  is  like 
saying  to  him,  I  treat  you  as  a  man,  and  not  as  a  child.  "With  re- 
spect to  any  worldly  object,  as  it  is  impossible  to  discover  any  in  me, 
therefore  what  I  do,  and  my  manner  of  doing  it,  ought  to  be  ascribed 
to  a  good  motive."— -{Thomas  Paine  ) 


WILLIAM  SMYTHE, 

In  his  "Lectures  on  Modern  History,"  speaking  of  the 
"American  Eevolution,"  says: 

"You  will  now  observe  the  arguments  that  were  used; 
you  will  see  them  in  the  very  celebrated  pamphlet  of 
Paine — his  *  Common  Sense' — a  pamphlet  whose  effect 
was  such  that  it  was  quite  a  feature  in  this  memorable 
contest.  You  may  now  read  it,  and  wonder  how  a  per- 
formance not  marked,  as  you  may  at  first  sight  suppose, 
with  any  particular  powers  of  eloquence  could  possibly 
produce  effects  so  striking.  *  *  *  *  The  pamphlet 
of  Paine  was  universally  read  and  admired  in  America, 
and  is  said  to  have  contributed  most  materially  to  the 
vote  of  Independence,  passed  by  Congress  in  1776." 


51 

REV.  ABIEL  HOLMES, 

In  his  "Annals  of  America/7  says: 

"A  pamphlet,  under  the  signature  of  l  Common 
Sense/  written  by  Thomas  Paine,  produced  great  effect. 
While  it  demonstrated  the  necessity,  the  advantages, 
and  the  practicability  of  Independence,  it  treated  kingly 
government  with  opprobrium,  and  hereditary  succession 
with  ridicule.  The  change  of  the  public  mind  on  this 
occasion  is  without  a  parallel." 


GUILLAUME  TELL  POTJSSIN, 

In  his  work  entitled  "The  United  States;  its  Power  and 
Progress,"  says  of  the  influence  of  Paine's  writings  : 

"  The  condition  of  affairs  day  by  day  assumed  a  graver 
aspect.  The  unequal  struggle  between  England  and 
the  still  growing  Colonies  gave  a  decided  preponder- 
ance to  ideas  of  Independence.  Several  remarkable 
productions  seemed  to  favor  this  enthusiasm.  That  of 
Thomas  Paine,  entitled  \  Common  Sense/  exerted  an 
overpowering  influence.  It  rendered  the  sentiment  of 
Independence  national;  and  Congress,  being  the  organ 
of  public  opinion,  soon  prepared  to  adopt  this  sentiment. 
By  the  resolution  of  the  8th  of  May,  1776,  each  Colony 
was  requested  to  reject  all  authority  emanating  from 
the  British  Crown,  and  to  establish  a  form  of  govern- 
ment that  would  accord  with  the  particular  interest  of 
each  State,  and  with  that  of  the  whole  Confederation." 


"Paine  also  wrote  a  series  of  political  pamphlets 
called  '  The  Crisis/  which  were  admirably  adapted  to 
the  state  of  the  times,  and  which  did  much  toward 


52 


keeping  alive  the  spirit  of  determined  rebellion  against 
the  unjust  government  of  Great  Britain."— Benjamin  F. 
Lossing,  in  his  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution,  Vol.  II,  page 
274,  Note. 


APPLETON'S  CYCLOPAEDIA  OF  BIOGRAPHY 

Says: 

"He  (Paine)  then  published  his  celebrated  pamphlet, 
'Common  Sense/  which,  being  written  with  great  vigor 
and  addressed  to  a  highly  excited  population,  had  a 
prodigious  sale,  and  undoubtedly  accelerated  the  famous 
Declaration  of  Independence.  *  *  *  *  He  arrived 
in  Calais,  in  September,  1792.  The  garrison  at  Calais 
were  under  arms  to  receive  this  l  friend  of  liberty/  the 
tri-colored  cockade  was  presented  to  him  by  the  mayor, 
and  the  handsomest  woman  in  the  town  was  selected  to 
place  it  in  his  hat.  Meantime  Paine  had  been  declared 
in  Paris  worthy  of  the  honors  of  citizenship,  and  he 
proceeded  thither,  where  he  was  received  with  every 
demonstration  of  extravagant  joy." 


"  Washington's  retreat  to  Trenton  was  a  compulsive 
one.  *  *  *  I  do  not  believe  that  even  a  number  of 
1  The  Crisis '  could  have  saved  the  American  army  and 
cause  from  annihilation,  if  Howe  had  been  an  active 
and  persevering,  an  enlightened  and  energetic  com- 
mander."— (Cheetham's  Life  of  Paine,  p.  57.) 

"  The  last  '  Crisis '  was  published  in  Philadelphia  April 
19th,  1783.  Peace  was  now  substantially  concluded, 
and  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  acknow- 
ledged. He  who,  if  not  the  suggester,  was  the  ablest 
literary  advocate  of  independence,  could  do  no  less,  when 
independence  was  acquired,  than  salute  the  nation  on 
the  great  event."— (Ibid,  p.  92.) 


JOHN  FROST,  LL.  D., 

In  his  History  of  the  United  States,  says : 

"During  the  winter  of  1775-6,  many  of  the  most  able 
writers  in  America  were  employed  in  demonstrating  the 
necessity  and  propriety  of  a  total  separation  from  the 
mother  country,  and  the  establishment  of  constitutional 
governments  in  the  Colonies.  One  of  the  most  conspicu- 
ous of  these  writers  was  Thomas  Paine,  who  published 
a  pamphlet  under  the  signature  of  'Common  Sense/ 
which  produced  great  effect.  It  demonstrated  the 
necessity,  advantages  and  practicability  of  indepen- 
dence, and  heaped  reproach  and  disgrace  on  monarchial 
governments,  and  ridicule  on  hereditary  succession.  * 
*  *  *  *  Paine  had  shrewdness  and  cunning  mixed 
with  boldness  in  his  manner  of  writing,  and  to  this, 
perhaps,  may  be  ascribed  the  uncommon  effect  of  his 
essays  on  the  inflamed  minds  of  the  Americans. — 
{History  U.  S.,  vol.  I,  pp.  192-3,  Simeon  Collins,  Phila- 
delphia, 1844.) 

"Let  men  learn  to  feel  that  the  true  greatness  of  a  nation  is 
founded  on  the  principles  of  humanity ;  and  that  to  avoid  a  war  when 
her  own  existence  is  not  endangered,  and  wherein  the  happiness  of 
man  must  be  wantonly  sacrificed,  is  a  higher  principle  of  true 
honor  than  madly  to  engage  in  it." — {Paine  in  "  Prospects  on  the 
Rubicon.'")  PtTlfTA 


The  author  of  "The  Eeligion  of  Science,"  in  his  intro- 
duction to  his  Life  of  Paine,  published  by  Calvin  Blan- 
chard,  of  New  York,  says: 

"  There  needs  but  to  have  the  light  of  truth  shine  fully 
upon  the  real  character  of  Thomas  Paine,  to  prove  him 
to  have  been  a  far  greater  man  than  his  most  ardent 
admirers  have  hitherto  given  him  credit  for  being." 
5* 


54 
HENRY  S.  RANDALL, 

In  his  aLife  of  Jefferson,"  says: 

"  We  confess  we  have  no  sympathy  with  Mr.  Paine's 
religious  views.  If  his  personal  character  was  what  it 
is  commonly  alleged  to  have  been,  (though  it  is  now 
said  there  has  been  a  good  deal  of  exaggeration,  and 
even  out  and  out  invention  on  this  head,)  there  was  much 
in  it  no  man  can  admire.  But  concede  all  the  allega- 
tions against  him,  and  it  still  leaves  him  the  author 
of  'Common  Sense/  and  certain  other  papers,  which 
rung  like  clarions  in  the  darkest  hour  of  the  Eevolu- 
tionary  struggle,  inspiring  the  bleeding,  and  starving, 
and  pestilence-stricken,  as  the  pen  of  no  other  man 
ever  inspired  them.  Whatever  Paine's  faults  or  vices, 
however  dark  and  crapulous  the  close  of  his  stormy 
career,  when  he  is  spoken  of  as  the  patriot,  and  espe- 
cially as  the  Kevolutionary  and  pre-Revolutionary  writer, 
shame  rest  on  the  pen  which  dares  not  do  him  justice !  and 
shame,  also,  ought  to  rest  on  the  most  cursory  narrator 
of  the  events  which  heralded  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, who  should  omit  to  enumerate  the  publication  of 
'Common  Sense'  among  them." 


THE  NEW  YORK  ADVERTISER, 

Of  June  9th,  1809,  has  the  following  notice : 
"  Mr.  Thomas  Paine. — 

"  'Thy  spirit,  Independence,  let  me  share.' — Smollett. 

"With  heartfelt  sorrow  and  poignant  regret  we  are 
compelled  to  announce  to  the  world  that  Mr.  Thomas 
Paine  is  no  more.  This  distinguished  philanthropist, 
whose  life  was  devoted  to  the  cause  of  humanity,  de- 
parted this  life  yesterday  morning,  and  if  any  man's 


55 

memory  deserved  a  plaee  in  the  breast  of  a  freeman,  it 
is  that  of  the  deceased,  for 

"  *  Take  him,  for  all  in  all, 

We  ne'er  shall  look  upon  his  like  again.' 

"  The  friends  of  the  deceased  are  invited  to  attend  his 
funeral  by  9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  from  his  late  resi- 
dence at  Greenwich,  from  whence  his  corpse  will  be 
conveyed  to  New  Eochelle,  for  interment. 

"  'His  ashes  there, 

His  fame  every  where.'  " 

"Every  government  that  does  not  act  on  the  principle  of  a  re- 
public, or,  in  other  words,  does  not  make  the  res-publica  its  whole 
and  sole  object,  is  not  a  good  government.  Kepublican  govern- 
ment is  no  other  than  government  established  and  conducted 
for  the  interest  of  the  public,  as  well  individually  as  collectively. 
It  is  not  necessarily  connected  with  any  particular  form,  but  it 
most  naturally  associates  with  the  representative  form  as  being  the 
best  calculated  to  secure  the  end  for  which  a  nation  is  at  the  expense 
of  supporting  it." — ("  Rights  of  Man,"  Mendum's  Complete  Ed., 
Vol.  II,  page  172.) 


The  UNIVERSAL  MAGAZINE  and  REVIEW 

For  April,  1793,  concludes  a  review  of  "  The  Eights  of 
Man"  with  these  words : 

"And  now,  courteous  reader,  we  leave  Mr.  Paine 
entirely  to  thy  mercy ;  what  wilt  thou  say  of  him  ? 
Wilt  thou  address  him  ?  '  Thou  art  a  troubler  of  privi- 
leged orders — we  will  tar  and  feather  thee;  nobles 
abhor  thee,  and  kings  think  thee  mad  !'  Or  wilt  thou 
rather  put  on  thy  spectacles,  study  Mr.  Paine's  physi- 
ognomy, purchase  his  print,  hang  it  over  thy  chimney 
piece  and,  pointing  to  it,  say  :  '  this  is  no  common  man  ; 
this  is  the  poor  man's  friend  V" 


56 
WATSON, 

In  his  "  Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  says : 

"  In  June,  1785,  John  Fitch  called  on  the  ingenious 
William  Henry,  Esq.,  of  Lancaster,  to  take  his  opinion 
of  his  draughts,  who  informed  him  that  he  (Fitch)  was 
not  the  the  first  person  who  had  thought  of  applying 
steam  to  vessels,  for  that  Thomas  Paine,  author  of 
'  Common  Sense'  had  suggested  the  same  to  him, 
(Henry)  in  the  winter  of  1778." 

"  There  is  a  single  idea,  which,  if  it  strikes  rightly  on  the  mind, 
either  in  a  legal  or  a  religious  sense,  will  prevent  any  man,  or  any 
body  of  men,  or  any  government,  from  going  wrong  on  the  subject 
of  religion ;  which  is,  that  before  anjT  human  institutions  of 
government  were  known  in  the  world,  there  existed,  if  I  may  so 
express  it,  a  compact  between  God  and  man,  from  the  beginning 
of  time :  and  that  as  the  relation  and  condition  which  man  in  his 
individual  person  stands  in  towards  his  Maker  cannot  be  changed 
by  any  human  laws  or  human  authority,  that  religious  devotion, 
which  is  a  part  of  this  compact,  cannot  so  much  as  be  made  a  sub- 
ject of  human  laws;  and  that  all  laws  must  conform  themselves  to 
this  prior  existing  compact,  and  not  assume  to  make  the  compact 
conform  to  the  laws,  which,  besides  being  human,  are  subsequent 
thereunto.  The  first  act  of  man,  when  he  looked  around  and  saw 
himself  a  creature  which  he  did  not  make,  and  a  world  furnished 
for  his  reception,  must  have  been  devotion ;  and  devotion  must 
ever  continue  sacred  to  every  individual  man,  as  it  appears  right  to 
him  ;  and  governments  do  mischief  by  interfering." — Thos.  Paine. 
(See  works  vol.  2,  page  114,  Boston  Edition,  1856.) 


THE  AUTHOR  OF  "THE  ANALYST," 

Published  by  Wiley  &  Putnam,  ISTew  York,  1840,  says 
of  Paine : 

"It  is  allowed  by  all  liberal  judges,  that,  in  his  ' Com- 
mon Sense'  and  ' The  Crisis/  he  strengthened  in  the 
American  mind  its  aspirations  after  liberty;  gave  them 


57 

the  right  direction,  manfully  exhorted  them  in  their  waver- 
ing hour ;  and  acted  the  part  of  a  freeman  and  an  active 
friend  to  humanity." 


WALTER  MORTON, 

In  a  short  narrative  of  Paine,  says: 

"In  his  religious  opinions  he  continued  to  the  last  as 
steadfast  and  tenacious  as  any  sectarian  to  the  definition 
of  his  own  creed.  He  never,  indeed,  broached  the  sub- 
ject first,  but  to  intrusive  and  inquisitive  visitors,  who 
came  to  try  him  on  that  point,  his  general  answer  was 
to  this  effect:  'My  opinions  are  now  before  the  world, 
and  all  have  an  opportunity  to  refute  them  if  they  can. 
I  believe  them  unanswerable  truths,  and  that  I  have 
done  great  service  to  mankind  by  boldly  putting  them 
forth.  I  do  not  wish  to  argue  upon  the  subject  now.  I 
have  labored  disinterestedly  in  the  cause  of  truth.'  I 
shook  his  hand  after  his  use  of  speech  was  gone ;  but, 
while  the  other  organs  told  me  sufficiently  that  h*e  knew 
me  and  appreciated  my  affection,  his  eye  glistened  with 
genius  under  the  pangs  of  death." 


THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  PENN'A, 

In  1785,  passed  the  following: 

"  Whereas,  During  the  late  Eevolution,  and  particularly 
in  the  most  trying  and  perilous  times  thereof,  many 
very  eminent  services  were  rendered  to  the  people  of 
the  United  States  by  Thomas  Paine,  Esq.,  accompanied 
with  sundry  distinguished  instances  of  fidelity,  patriot- 
ism and  disinterestedness  ; 

"  And  whereas,  That  the  said  Thomas  Paine  did,  du- 
ring the  whole  progress  of  the  Eevolution,  voluntarily 
devote  himself  to  the  service  of  the  public,  without  accept- 
ing recompense  therefor,  and,  moreover  did  decline  tak- 


58 

ing  or  receiving  the  profits  which  authors  are  entitled 
to  on  the  sale  of  their  literary  works,  but  relinquished 
them  for  the  better  accommodation  of  the  country,  and 
for  the  honor  of  the  public  cause; 

"  And  whereas,  Besides  the  knowledge  which  this 
House  has  of  the  services  of  the  said  Thomas  Paine,  the 
same  having  been  recommended  to  us  by  his  Excellency, 
the  President,  and  the  Supreme  Executive  Council  of 
the  State,  of  the  16th  of  December  last  past,  and  by  the 
friendly  offices  of  the  late  patriotic  Commander-in-chief, 
General  Washington ; 

"  Be  it  enacted,  And  it  is  hereby  enacted,  by  the  Eep- 
resentatives  of  the  freemen  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  by  the 
authority  of  the  same,  that,  as  a  temporary  recompense 
the  said  Thomas  Paine,  and  until  a  suitable  provision 
shall  be  further  made,  either  federally  by  Congress,  or 
otherwise,  the  Supreme  Executive  Council  be  authorized 
and  empowered  to  draw  on  the  Treasurer  of  this  State 
for  the  sum  of  £500  in  favor  of  and  payable  to  the  said 
Thomas  Paine. 

"  Signed  by  order  of  the  House, 

"JOHN  BAYAKD,  Speaker:' 


The  following  song,  though  the  same  metre  as  the 
"Star  Spangled  Banner,"  was  written  by  Mr.  Paine, 
many  years  before  the  production  of  our  national  song 
by  Mr.  Key,  and  was  originally  published  under  the 
title  of 

"THE  BOSTON  PATEIOTIC  SONG." 

Ye  sons  of  Columbia  who  bravely  have  fought 

For  those  rights  which  unstain'd  from  your  sires  have  descended, 
May  you  long  taste  the  blessings  your  valor  has  bought, 

And  your  sons  reap  the  soil  which  your  fathers  defended ; 
Mid  the  reign  of  mild  peace 


May  your  nation  increase 
With  the  glory  of  Rome,  and  the  wisdom  of  Greece ; 
And  ne'er  may  the  sons  of  Columbia  be  slaves 
While  the  earth  bears  a  plant  or  the  sea  rolls  its  waves. 

The  fame  of  our  arms,  of  our  laws  the  mild  sway, 

Had  justly  ennobled  our  nation  in  story, 
'Till  the  dark  clouds  of  faction  obscured  our  bright  day 
And  envelop'd  the  sun  of  American  glory ; 
But  let  traitors  be  told,  '  ' :.. 

Who  their  country  have  sold, 
And  bartered  their  God  for  his  image  in  gold, 
That  ne'er  shall  the  sons,  &c. 

While  France  her  huge  limbs  bathes  recumbent  in  blood, 

And  society's  base,  threats  with  wide  dissolution ; 
May  peace  like  the  dove,  who  returned  from  the  flood, 
Find  an  ark  of  abode  in  our  mild  constitution ; 
But  though  peace  is  our  aim, 
Yet  the  boon  we  disclaim 
If  bought  by  our  sovereignty,  justice  or  fame. 
For  ne'er  shall  the  sons,  &c. 

'Tis  the  fire  of  the  flint  each  American  warms, 

Let  Bome's  haughty  victors  beware  of  collision  ! 
Let  them  bring  all  the  vassals  of  Europe  in  arms, 
We  're  a  world  by  ourselves,  and  disdain  a  division ; 
While  with  patriot  pride 
To  our  laws  we  're  allied, 
No  foe  can  subdue  us,  no  faction  divide  ; 
For  ne'er  shall  the  sons,  &c. 

Let  our  patriots  destroy  vile  anarchy's  worm, 

Lest  our  liberty's  growth  should  be  check'd  by  corrosion, 
Then  let  clouds  thicken  round  us,  we  heed  not  the  storm, 
Our  earth  fears  no  shock,  but  the  earth's  own  explosion. 
Foes  assail  us  in  vain, 
Tho'  their  fleets  bridge  the  main, 
For  our  altars  and  claims,  with  o^ur  lives  we'll  mantain. 
For  ne'er  shall  the  sons,  &c. 

Let  Fame,  to  the  world,  sound  America's  voice, 

No  intrigue  can  her  sons  from  their  government  sever  ; 


Its  wise  regulations  and  laws,  are  their  choice, 
And  shall  flourish  till  Liberty  slumber  forever. 
Then  unite  heart  and  hand, 
Like  Leonidas'  band ; 
And  swear  by  the  God  of  the  ocean  and  land, 

That  ne'er  shall  the  sons  of  Columbia  be  slaves, 
While  the  earth  bears  a  plant,  or  the  sea  rolls  its  waves. 


GEORGE  JACOB  HOLYOAKE, 

Author  of  "The  Trial  of  Theism,"  &c,  and  editor  of 
"  The  I^ondon  Keasoner,"  says : 

"Paine,  like  Defoe,  was  the  personation  of  English 
common  sense.  *  *  *  *  Paine  was  the  Prophet  of 
American  Destiny — the  great  Pamphleteer  of  its  Inde- 
pendence. *  *  *  He  was  the  Thinker  for  the  People. 
He  found  out  the  obvious  thoughts  of  the  period  and 
showed  them  to  the  nation,  and  created  those  which 
were  wanting.  *  *  *  *  Paine's  merits  and  de- 
merits were  all  popular.  His  errors  were  broad  and 
his  virtues  hearty.  There  was  nothing  small  or  mean 
about  him.  He  was  a  strong  man  all  through.  The 
man  who  was  the  confidant  of  Burke,  (before  the  un- 
happy days  when  Burke's  reason  failed  him,)  the  coun- 
sellor of  Franklin,  and  the  friend  and  colleague  of 
Washington,  must  have  had  great  qualities.  *  *  *  * 
If  Paine  was  coarse,  he  had  capacity  and  integrity;  if 
the  oak  was  gnarled,  it  had  strength — if  the  ore  was 
rough,  there  was  gold  in  it.  *  *  *  *  Let  us  do 
justice  to  him." 


EKKATA. 

Page  7,  Washington,  line  13,  read  epocha  for  epoch. 
Page  8,  Adams,  line  10,  read  attempts  for  attempt. 
Page  12,  South  wick,  dele  Rev. 

Page  12,         "  line  3,  read  Visitant  for  Visiter. 

Page  12,         "  line  9,  read  Tyrtceus  for  Tintochus. 


THOMAS  PAINE'S  WRITINGS, 

Political,  Religious  and  Miscellaneous,  are  Published 
and  for  Sale  by 

J.    I».    3VI3E33V3DXJ1MC, 

At  the  Office  of  the  Boston  Investigator,  Boston,  Mass. 

And  will  be  sent  free  of  postage,  on  receipt  of  price. 

THE  COMPLETE  WORKS  OF  THO'S  PAINE,  Secre- 
tary to  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  the  American  Revolution. 
Three  volumes:  consisting  of  his  POLITICAL,  THEOLOGICAL  and 
MISCELLANEOUS  WRITINGS.  To  which  is  added  a  Sketch  of  his 
Life Price,      $4  CO 

THE  POLITICAL  WRITINGS  OF  THOMAS  PAINE, 

with  a  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Author's  Life.  A  new  edition  with  addi- 
tions.   2  vols Price,        3  00 

THEOLOGICAL  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  WRI- 
TINGS OF  THOMAS  PAINE.  The  most  complete  edition  ever  pub- 
lished—containing  his  AGE  OF  REASON,  and  all  his  Writings  on 
Theology,  with  many  Miscellaneous  and  Poetical  Pieces,  and  his 
Letter  to  Washington Price,        1  50 

THEOLOGICAL  WORKS  OF  THOMAS  PAINE,  to 
which  are  added  the  Profession  of  Faith  of  a  Savoyard  Vicar,  by  J. 
J.  Rousseau;  and  other  Miscellaneous  Pieces Price,        1  00 

THE  AGE  OF  REASON  ;  being  an  Investigation  of  True 
and  Fabulous  Theology Price,  30 

COMMON  SENSE,  a  Revolutionary  Pamphlet,  addressed 
to  the  Inhabitants  of  America,  1776,  by  Thomas  Paine— to  which  is 
added  a  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Author's  Life Price  18 

RIGHTS  OF  MAN;  being  an  Answer  to  Mr.  Burke's 
Attack  on  the  French  Revolution,  by  Thomas  Paine   Price,  50 

PAINE'S  SELECT  WORKS,  consisting  of  his  Theologi- 
cal and  Political  WriMngs,  in  two  volumes,  in  cloth ;  a  new  edition, 
just  issued Price,  per  vol.        1  00 

THE  CRISIS ;  being  a  Series  of  Pamphlets,  in  sixteen 
numbers,  by  Thomas  Paine,  written  during  the  American  Revolution, 
and,  by  the  orders  of  General  Washington,  read  to  each  regiment  of 
the  armv  as  they  were  published Cloth,  price,  40 

THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE,  Author  of  "Common 
Sense,"  "Rights  of  Man,"  "Age  of  Reason,"  Ac.  &c  ,  with  Critical  and 
Explanatory  Observations  on  his  Writings,  by  Gilbert  Vale.  Price,  bd.  75 


TESTIMONIALS    TO    THE    MERITS    OF   THOMAS 

PAINE, 15 

PAINE  AND  HIS  CALUMNIATORS,  by  Jos.  Barker,  10 

THOMAS  PAINE  ;  a  Sermon  by  the  Rev.  M.  D.  Conway,  10 

AGE  OF  REASON,  by  Thomas  Paine.     Paper, 20 

PAINE'S  POLITICAL  WORKS,  1  vol.,  bound, $1  00 

PAINE'S  THEOLOGICAL    "        1    "         "       1  00 

Sent  free  of  postage,  by 

F.    L.    TAYLOR, 

Box  118,  P.  O.,  Burlington,  N.  J. 


. 


m 


CALVIN  BLANCHARD, 

No.  76   Nassau   Street,  New  York, 

PUBLISHES   AND    HAS    FOR   SALE 

THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE;  Mover  of  the  «  Decla- 
A™2ri«  V^  pendenC^:"  ktecreta7  of  Foreign  Atfairs  under  the  first 
wwa"f  Egress;  Member  of  the  National  Convention  of  France; 
Author  of  "Common  Sense,"  "The  Crisis,"  "Rights  of  Man  "  «  A<re  of 
Reason,"  &c  :  THE  MA*  whose  motto  ww-^tB  wSSffft*  CtaS^? 

'  jwS,  GoofrrnyRduiian.  "Embracing  iVoctforf  Considerations  on  Human 
fn?«h^vitmTSrr/lt^g,that^/an  /e'^s>  irreprcssiblr,  to  Actual  Freedom; 
and  showing  ALibertu-Aim  Connection  in  the  action  of  the  World's  Three 
«n?ufc  Author-Heroes— Rousseau,  Paine  and  Comte.    By  the  Author  of 

eau^nf  Z  fr^T^o  WWJ  ^'^^ly  engraved  Portraits  of  Rous- 
seau,  Paine,  and  Comte.    12mo  cloth, m 

PAINE'S  THEOLOGICAL  AND  POLITICAL  WORKS*" 
(with  Life)  2  vols.,  12mo '  *9  ftn 

PAINE'S  POLITICAL  WORKS,  1  vol"  Itoo 1  00 

PAINE'S  THEOLOGICAL  WORKS,  (with  LifeTf  vol" 
12mo v  ;    •  ''1ftn 

PAINE'S  AGE  OF  REASON,  in  ppr:'cover725e.';*'in'cloTh,'      37 
*£~A11  the  above  Works  have  just  been  published  on  large,  new  type,  on  verv 

fine  paper,  and  in  substantial  binding,  and  sent  by  mail  Free  of  Postage.  Y 


MOSS,  BROTHER  &  CO., 

Booksellers  aad  Ef&tlo&ers, 


MANUFACTURERS    OF 


BLANK,  ACCOUNT  &  MEMORANDUM  BOOKS, 

JVo.  430  Jflarhet  Street,  Phitadetphia, 

Publish,  and  will  send  to  any  address,  free  of  postage,  on  receipt 
of  price: 

THOMAS  PAINE'S  POLITICAL  AND  THEO- 
LOGICAL WORKS.  New  and  improved  edition, 
complete  in  2  vols  ,  12mo,  cloth,  with  Steel  Portrait  and 

View  of  his  Monument  at  New  Rochelle Price,  $2  50 

Either  Volume  separately <<         \  2fo    1 

PAINE'S  AGE  OP  REASON.    Paper «  25 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

^  <*resuDject  to  immediate  recall.  — 


Lp2lA-40m-ll,'63 
(El602slO)476B 


.  General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


LP 


1 


YB  2708' 


